Mumbai, Apr 8 (IANS): The Indian equity indices went through a roller-coaster ride on Wednesday with both the BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traversing through the green and red territories throughout the day before ending on a negative note.
After opening on in the red, the Sensex surged over 1,100 points around 10.35 a.m. to touch an intra-day high of 31,227.97.
Investor sentiments subdued later in the day on anticipation that the lockdown would continue post April 14.
The Sensex settled at 29,893.96, lower by 173.25 points or 0.58 per cent from the previous close of 30,067.21. It had opened at 29,701.92 and touched a low of 29,602.94 points during the day.
The Nifty50 on closed at 8,748.75, lower by 43.45 points or 0.49 per cent from its previous close.
Foreign institutional investors made a net investment of Rs 1,943.41 crore on Wednesday, while the domestic institutional investors sold stocks with a net value of Rs 1,757.79 crore.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said that markets gave up gains, following a negative opening in the European markets and uncertainty regarding the spread of Covid-19 infections.
"Markets are also uncertain as to the government response after the official 21 day lockdown expires on April 14. Some states are looking to extend the lockdown and some are for withdrawing it in a phased manner. The longer the lockdown stays, more the impact on the economy and companies," he said.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said that market indices like the BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices ended higher, thereby outperforming the Sensex and Nifty. Market breadth was positive on the BSE and NSE.
"Major Asian markets have closed on a negative note, barring the Nikkei and Taiwan indices. European indices like FTSE, CAC and DAX are trading in the red," he said.
Sectorally, the top gainers were the BSE Healthcare, Auto and Power indices, while the top losers were the BSE Realty, Consumer Durables, IT and Telecom indices.
Among the Sensex stocks, the major gainers were Sun Pharmaceuticals (up 4.69 per cent), NTPC (4.41 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (3.83 per cent), while the top losers were TCS (down 3.91 per cent), Titan Company (3.47 per cent) and ICICI Bank (2.18 per cent).