Equity markets settle lower after three days of rally

Benchmark equity indices ended lower on Wednesday after three days of gain amid profit-taking ahead of key macroeconomic data announcements due later in the day along with the first quarter earnings from TCS and HCL Technologies.

Fag-end selling pulled down the 30-share BSE Sensex lower, which declined 223.94 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 65,393.90. During the day, it hit a low of 65,320.25 and a high of 65,811.64.

The NSE Nifty fell by 55.10 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 19,384.30.

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Industrial production data for May and inflation for the month of June will be announced later in the day.

From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Maruti, HDFC and Tata Steel were the major laggards.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, Nestle, Titan, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries were the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying momentum as they bought equities worth Rs 1,197.38 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong settled in the green while Tokyo and Shanghai ended lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading in the green. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.

"The range-bound movement in the Indian indices was influenced by the likelihood of subdued IT earnings," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.23 per cent to USD 79.58 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark had advanced 273.67 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at 65,617.84 on Tuesday. The Nifty climbed 83.50 points or 0.43 per cent to end at 19,439.40.