Nifty ends lower for second straight session on Wednesday

Nifty ended lower for second straight session on Wednesday amid ongoing geopolitical tensions in the West Asia. Index made a negative start and intensified its losses during the first half of the session, amid elevated crude oil prices. The Brent crude oil price traded above $115 a barrel mark after attack on Saudi Arabia’s refinery fuelled supply concerns. Besides, sharp selloff in IT and oil & gas stocks dragged market lower. Further, traders avoided risky trades ahead of US Federal Reserve’s policy decision. However, In the second half of the session, the Nifty staged a recovery but failed to sustain its gains above the neutral line, eventually closing below the 22,700 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Auto, Consumer Durables and Media stocks, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, IT and Realty. The top gainers from the F&O segment were PG Electroplast, Voltas and Patanjali Foods. On the other hand, the top losers were Kaynes Technology India, Steel Authority of India and Pidilite Industries. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 23400 - 23600 calls and 22900 - 23100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.