Sensex, Nifty Snap Three-day Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended modestly lower on Wednesday after trading in a tight range throughout the session.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex slipped 117.58 points, or 0.16 percent, to 72,987.03 - halting a three-day winning streak despite a dip in the dollar index and U.S. bond yields.

The broader NSE Nifty index dropped 17.30 points, or 0.08 percent, to 22,200.55 due to concerns over FII selling ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 election outcome.

Among the prominent decliners, Britannia Industries, Eicher Motors, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors all fell around 2 percent.

PSU stocks topped the gainers list, with Power Grid Corp, BPCL and Coal India surging 2-4 percent.

Cipla rallied 3.6 percent after a series of block deals. Bharti Airtel climbed 2.5 percent despite reporting a 31 percent fall in Q4 net profit.

Global cues were mixed while the dollar and bond yields dipped after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described the producer price index report as more mixed than hot, adding he doesn't expect the next move to be a rate hike.

The dollar dipped to a one-month low versus the euro ahead of the release of key U.S. CPI data later in the day.

Oil and gold edged up in European trade on dollar weakness and amid signs of escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Fierce gun battles raged in northern Gaza's Jabalia and southern Rafah as Israeli military incursions intensified against Palestinian armed groups.

Media reports suggest that the Biden administration plans to move forward with more than $1 billion in weapons deals for Israel, after pausing a bomb shipment last week due to concerns over Israel's planned attack on Rafah.