By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M
(Reuters) -Indian equity benchmarks inched lower on Thursday as a lack of major triggers kept the market in consolidation mode, while gains for Reliance Industries partially offset broader market losses.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.34% to 25,509.7 and the BSE Sensex closed 0.18% lower at 83,311.01.
Fourteen of the 16 major sectors fell, while small-cap and mid-cap indexes slipped 1.4% and 1%, respectively.
“An elusive trade deal with the U.S., and the Federal Reserve indicating a pause in rate cuts are preventing further upside for the markets,” said Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president at Angel One.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week in South Korea that he wanted to reach a trade deal with India – signaling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after he doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50% citing India’s purchases of Russian oil.
“There has been anticipation about India-U.S. trade agreement, but that hasn’t materialized yet,” added Singh.
Reliance Industries rose 1.6% on the day, snapping a four session losing streak, and cushioning the benchmark Nifty 50 from a steeper drop.
Grasim Industries fell 6.3% and was the biggest Nifty 50 loser, after Rakshit Hargave, CEO of its paints unit Birla Opus, resigned to join Britannia Industries.
Its biggest rival Asian Paints surged 4.7% as Nomura upgraded it to “buy” from “neutral”, saying the fear of disruption by Birla Opus has not materialised.
Aluminium titan Hindalco slid 5.2% due to debt concerns at its U.S. arm Novelis after it reported lower quarterly adjusted operating profit and raised capex guidance.
Adani Enterprises fell 4.4%, extending Tuesday’s losses, after reporting lower adjusted profit for the quarter ended September.
Paytm gained 4.2% after analysts called its core quarterly performance solid. The stock was also among four added to the MSCI Global Standard Index in the November reshuffle, a move expected to draw more foreign inflows.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Ronojoy Mazumdar)
