Equity indices close in the red, Reliance falters by 4 pc

Equities came under heavy selling pressure in the afternoon session on Wednesday with benchmark indices slipping by 1 per cent amid mixed cues in global markets.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 422 points or 1.1 per cent lower at 38,071 while the Nifty 50 lost 98 points or 0.86 per cent at 11,203.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty pharma gaining by 3 per cent but auto slipping by 1.2 per cent. Nifty financial service, private bank and IT were in the negative terrain.

Among stocks, Reliance Industries dived nearly 4 per cent to close at Rs 2,092 per share after clarification on acquisition buzz of Future Group's retail business.

"Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis. We are unable to comment on media speculation and rumours, and it would also be inappropriate on our part to do so," it said in regulatory filings.

Auto majors were under pressure with Mahindra & Mahindra declining by 2.7 per cent, Hero MotoCorp by 2.2 per cent and Maruti Suzuki by 1.4 per cent.

IT stocks too slipped with HCL Technologies down by 2.5 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.4 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 1.3 per cent. Nestle India, HDFC Bank and Bharat Petroleum Corporation too traded with a negative bias.

However, Dr Reddy's jumped by 6.28 per cent to close at Rs 4,305.70 per share while Tata Steel and JSW Steel gained by 4 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively. IndusInd Bank, Cipla and Sun Pharma were up by over 2 per cent each.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed with Japan's Nikkei down by 1.15 per cent in a weak start to corporate earnings season.

But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index crawled up by 0.45 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 0.27 per cent. Investors said the resurgence of coronavirus cases is fading away hopes of a V-shaped economic recovery.

( With inputs from ANI )