(Updates closing levels)
By Sethuraman N R and Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended lower
for the third day in a row on Tuesday, having spent the session
in a narrower-than-usual trading range on caution ahead of the
minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting amid fears of a
higher-for-longer interest rate regime.
The Nifty 50 index fell 0.10% down at 17,826.70,
while the S&P BSE Sensex dipped 0.03% to 60,672.72.
Both benchmarks opened higher before reversing course.
The Nifty traded in a 124-points range, well below this
month's daily average of around 195 points.
The minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting are due on
Wednesday and come as recent U.S. data – on inflation, retail
sales and jobs — have strengthened the case for further rate
hikes, a view that two Fed officials recently advocated for.
"With the kind of domestic, as well as global economic data
coming in, we might see a selling in growth stocks and buying in
value stocks," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president,
research, SMC Global Securities.
Ten of the 13 sectoral indexes declined. The U.S.
rates-sensitive IT stocks fell 0.88%, with nine of
the 10 constituents in the red. Financials were
little changed.
Jain said IT stocks, up 8.7% so far this year, were likely
to be losing steam, with investors moving into financial shares.
The fast moving consumer goods index bucked the
broader trend to add 0.11%. Marico was the top gainer,
rising over 2% after Citi said it expects volume growth of core
brands to accelerate.
Siemens rose over 3% and hit a record high, after
Jefferies called it its top pick among industrial stocks.
On the flip side, UFlex dropped nearly 2% on
reports that the country's income tax department was searching
the flexible packaging products manufacturer's office.
Multiple media reports suggested the equity market trade
timing is likely to be extended to 5 p.m. IST, from 3:30 p.m.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is yet to comment.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Nallur Sethuraman in
Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Nivedita Bhattacharjee
and Savio D'Souza)
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