Business Standard Podcast

Benchmark Indices ended lower on Wednesday as tensions between India and Pakistan escalated.  The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,905, down 68 points or 0.19 per cent, while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,807, down 29 points or 0.26 per cent. The 30-share index had hit an intra-day of 36,371, while the 50-share Nifty surged to 10,939 during the day. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT index ended 0.5 per cent lower led by a decline in Wipro and Infibeam. While the Nifty Financial Service index settled 0.5 per cent lower weighed by Edelweiss and Indiabulls Ventures. In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 57 points, 0.40 per cent higher at 14,249, while S&P BSE SmallCap index settled at 13,573, up 23 points, or 0.17 per cent. The rupee on Wednesday slipped as much as 41 paise in the intra-day trade after Pakistani fighter jets carried out air strikes across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Nowshera sectors. The Pakistani aircraft violated Indian air space and were pushed back by Indian aircraft, news agency PTI reported citing senior officials. At 12:34 pm, the currency was trading at 71.38. Earlier, it opened 4 paise lower at 71.11 against the greenback. On Tuesday, the domestic unit snapped its gains of previous two sessions and closed 10 paise lower at 71.07 amid fears of escalation in geopolitical tensions, following Indian fighter jets' air strikes on Pakistan-based terror camps. Shares of Corporation Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Allahabad Bank rallied up to 10 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning trade on exit from the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday removed these three banks from PCA framework allowing them to lend freely in line with the government’s objective to empower lenders so that they support economic growth. Following the news, Corporation Bank rallied 10 per cent to Rs 32.40, Dhanlaxmi Bank, too, surged 10 per cent to Rs 15.30 and Allahabad Bank gained 6 per cent to Rs 46.65 on the NSE.