Mumbai Aug 1 (IANS) Ending their week-long rally to fresh record levels the domestic equity indices closed in the negative territory on Wednesday.
Investor sentiments were dampened by a decline in a key manufacturing data and the hike in lending rates by the Reserve Bank of India.
The RBI on Wednesday again hiked its key lending rate by 25 basis points to bring the repo to 6.50 per cent citing upside risks to inflation.
Index-wise the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 11 346.20 points lower by 10.30 points or 0.09 per cent from its previous close. It had touched an all-time high of 11 390.55 points earlier in the day.
The barometer S&P BSE Sensex which had opened at 37 643.87 points closed at 37 521.62 points lower by 84.96 points or 0.23 per cent from its previous close of 37 606.58 points. It touched a fresh intra-day high of 37 711.87 points and a low of 37 432.91 points.
In the broader markets the S&P BSE mid-cap rose 0.19 per cent and the S&P BSE small-cap ended higher by 0.26 per cent from its previous close. The BSE market breadth was tilted towards the bulls with 1 406 advances against 1 296 declines.
"Domestic equity indices opened the day on a positive note but eventually succumbed to selling pressure at higher levels " said Abhijeet Dey Senior Fund Manager for Equities at BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
Dey further said the central bank maintained its neutral stance while reiterating that inflation continues to be a major consideration in rate decision. While market reaction to the rate hike was muted we did see some sharp selling pressure in interest rate sensitive stocks he added.
"On the other hand manufacturing conditions across India improved at a modest and slower pace at the start of the quarter reflecting softer rises in output new orders and employment " Dey said.
The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) posted 52.3 in July 2018 down from 53.1 in June 2018.
On the currency front the rupee closed at 68.44 appreciating by 11 paise from the previous close of 68.55 per dollar.
Investment-wise provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 95.94 crore and the domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 562.33 crore.
Sector-wise the S&P BSE healthcare index gained the most by 157.55 points followed by the oil and gas index which rose by 148.85 points and the consumer durables index up 99.56 points.
On the contrary S&P BSE auto index fell by 189.48 points the banking index fell 171.09 points and metal index was down 78.96 points.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up 3.29 per cent at Rs 270.30; Tata Consultancy Services up 1.74 per cent at Rs 1 975.10; Sun Pharma up 1.61 per cent at Rs 575.80; ITC up 1.51 per cent at Rs 301.70; Power Grid up 1.02 per cent from Rs 184.05 per share.
The major losers were Vedanta down 1.84 per cent at Rs 218.15; Bharti Airtel down 1.80 per cent at Rs 383.65; Maruti Suzuki down 1.75 per cent at Rs 9 340.30; ICICI Bank down 1.61 per cent at Rs 299.05; and Tata Steel down 1.30 at Rs 297.20 per share.

--IANS rrb-rv/sed