Indian Stocks Close Mixed: Large Caps Weigh, Midcaps Rally

Mumbai, October 28: Indian equities ended Wednesday's session in negative territory, although the selling was mostly concentrated in large-cap counters. The Sensex closed at 73,246.03, down 352.64 points or 0.48 per cent. The Nifty 50 settled at 22,698.85, lower by 50.90 points or 0.22 per cent.

Midcap and smallcap shares told a more positive story. The Nifty Midcap 100 index climbed 244.80 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 57,274.70. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 166.20 points, or 0.90 per cent, to 18,634.90, marking a strong session for smaller companies.

The sectoral picture was mixed. Auto stocks led the rally with a gain of 1.45 per cent in the Nifty Auto index. Consumer Durables, Media, Healthcare and Pharma indices recorded gains ranging from 1.04 to 1.41 per cent. Financial Services and Private Bank indices advanced modestly.

Oil and gas shares were the worst performers, with the Nifty Oil and Gas index tumbling 2.27 per cent. IT stocks also came under pressure, with the Nifty IT index falling 1.98 per cent. Commodities, Energy and Realty indices each lost ground.

Within the Sensex, L&T, Trent, SBI, Axis Bank, IndiGo, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance and M&M witnessed buying interest. Reliance Industries, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and several other large companies faced selling pressure.

Experts said the market remained choppy throughout the day. A sudden surge in crude oil prices and heavy selling in IT counters hurt investor sentiment. Attention is also on the US midterm elections, which could bring more clarity on the geopolitical outlook.

Support came from strong corporate results, steady performance in banking, auto and pharma, and buying at lower price levels, which helped indices recover a large part of their early losses. Market focus now shifts to the US Federal Reserve's policy guidance.