The Indian benchmark indices declined to close at their lowest levels in a week on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank of India kept key interest rates unchanged. Just six stocks rose on the 31-share BSE Sensex, while 40 of the Nifty 50 stocks declined.
The Sensex closed at 35,884.41, down nearly 250 points since Tuesday, while the National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 ended the day down 86.60 points, at 10,782.90. They had declined since the morning trade following a selloff in global equities because of concerns about US-China trade negotiations and global economic growth.
United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to a truce during last week’s G20 summit in Argentina but Trump tweeted on Tuesday that though negotiations with China have started, “they will end 90 days” from Saturday unless extended.
Hindustan Unilever, HDFC and HDFC Bank were among the top five stocks on both the Sensex and the Nifty 50, and Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and Vedanta led the losses on both indices. The decline was led by metal, pharma, auto and banking stocks, according to PTI.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 26 paise to 70.75 against the dollar in early trade as the American currency strengthened and foreign fund outflows rose. It later recovered and ended the day at 70.46.
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