Both Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd and HDFC Bank lost over 1% and were among the top Nifty 50 losers.
Analysts expect the benchmark Nifty to consolidate in
the near term with resistance seen at 18,400-18,500 levels.
"We maintain a positive outlook for domestic markets due
to strong macroeconomic fundamentals," said G Chokkalingam,
founder and head of research at Equinomics Research & Advisory.
India's annual
wholesale price inflation and
retail inflation
cooled off in April, heightening expectations of a
prolonged pause in interest rate hikes by the country's central
bank.
Among individual stocks, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd advanced nearly 2% and was among the top gainers in Nifty 50 index. The uptick comes after the government
cut
windfall tax on petroleum crude to zero from 4,100 rupees
per tonne, in its fortnightly revision. Oil India Ltd also added over 2%.
Pipes maker Astral Ltd climbed over 5% after reporting a rise in March-quarter profit.
The Nifty 50 has risen nearly 6% in FY2024 so far. The recent uptick could be attributed to the return of foreign institutional investors (FII). FIIs have
bought over 210 billion rupees of shares in the past 13 sessions at a stretch, the longest FII buying streak in nine months.
($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
