Mumbai : Continuing its downward journey for the second straight day, BSE Sensex on Wednesday fell over 59 points to end at 28,005.37 on selling mainly in IT, Oil&Gas, pharma counters as participants remained cautious amid indication that US Fed could raise rates as early as September. The BSE benchmark index on Wednesday opened marginally lower at 28,061.79 and hovered in a range of 28,174.30 to 27,960.14 before closing at 28,005.37, showing a fall of 59.24 points or 0.21 per cent. The gauge had lost 87.79 points in the previous session.
The 50-issue Nifty fell 18.50 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 8,624.05. Intra-day, it hovered between 8,667.10 and 8,603.60.
Of the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 today closed in the red. Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said, “Comments from Fed presidents playing up chances of even a September US rate hike, kept global markets on a watch mode, especially with FOMC minutes due for release later in the day.” “Indian stocks continued to get picked up from lower levels, but with few immediate domestic triggers, buyers were seen reluctant to chase prices higher,” he added. Asian markets like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea moved down by 0.02 per cent to 0.54 per cent. European shares also edged lower with key indices in France, Germany and the UK fell up to 0.68%.