Equity gauges close in the red, auto and PSU banks under pressure

Equity benchmark indices snapped six sessions of gain to close marginally lower on Wednesday amid weak global cues.

The BSE S&P Sensex wound up 59 points or 0.16 per cent lower at 37,872 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 31 points or 0.27 per cent at 11,133.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty PSU bank down by 1.5 per cent, auto by 1.2 per cent and IT by 1.1 per cent.

Among stocks, Hero MotoCorp slipped by 3.3 per cent to Rs 2,774 per share while Tata Motors skidded by 2.7 per cent and Maruti by 1.9 per cent. Energy major Bharat Petroleum Corporation lost by 3 per cent to close at Rs 449.90 per share.

IT majors Wipro and Infosys dropped by 2.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Hindustan Unilever dropped by 3 per cent to Rs 2,247 per share despite the FMCG major reporting 7 per cent hike in its Q1 FY21 net profit at Rs 1,881 crore.

However, Axis Bank advanced by 6.6 per cent to Rs 476 per share despite posting 19 per cent dip in its Q1 net profit at Rs 1,112 crore. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries breached the Rs 2,000 mark and moved up 1.65 per cent to close at Rs 2,004 per share.

The others which gained were Titan, ITC, Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, UPL and Vedanta.

Meanwhile, Asian markets traded mixed after US President Donald Trump warned the US pandemic may get worse before it gets better.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose by 0.2 per cent but Japan's Nikkei dipped by 0.2 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )