Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty surrendered early gains to close with losses in a volatile session on Friday, snapping their two-day winning streak as investors pared exposure to realty, oil & gas and healthcare stocks amid a mixed trend in global markets.
Unabated foreign fund outflows also dented investor sentiment.
After swinging between gains and losses, the 30-share BSE benchmark dropped 329.92 points or 0.43 per cent to settle at 76,190.46. During the day, it slumped 428.63 points or 0.56 per cent to 76,091.75.
The NSE Nifty declined 113.15 points or 0.49 per cent to 23,092.20.
On a weekly basis, the BSE index declined 428.87 points or 0.55 per cent, and the Nifty dipped 111 points or 0.47 per cent.
“Markets ended weak in volatile trade amid selling in auto, oil & gas and realty shares. A sharp appreciation in the rupee against the dollar limited the fall, but the undertone continues to remain cautious with a weak bias. Investors are likely to maintain caution ahead of the upcoming Union Budget announcement,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Zomato, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finserv were among the major laggards.
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.
The BSE smallcap gauge dropped 2.23 per cent, and the midcap index declined 1.60 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty tanked 2.50 per cent, oil & gas went lower by 2.30 per cent, industrials (2.22 per cent), energy (1.95 per cent), capital goods (1.89 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.79 per cent) and auto (1.69 per cent).
Teck and BSE Focused IT were the gainers.
“The market is haywire, with sentiment so weak that even results in line with expectations are triggering selloffs. While the broader market is under pressure, positively, large-cap stocks are showing some resilience. From the taper-tantrum to geopolitical risks, the Indian market has borne numerous challenges in its history,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Tokyo ended lower. The Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate to about 0.5 per cent from 0.25 per cent.
Markets in Europe were trading in the green. US markets ended higher on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump, on Thursday, addressed the World Economic Forum, where he offered business leaders low taxes if they manufacture their products in the US while threatening them with tariffs if they don’t.
Addressing the forum’s Annual Meeting here through video conferencing, Trump also said he is going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down oil prices and asserted that if prices come down, the Russia-Ukraine war will end immediately.
Throughout the world, food prices went through the roof, the president said, and he took immediate action to control inflation in America.
“I promise to eliminate 10 old regulations for every new regulation… I am going to pass the largest tax cuts in American history to help our people,” he noted.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,462.52 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 per cent to USD 78.50 a barrel.
The rupee appreciated 22 paise to close at 86.22 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday.
In the previous session, Sensex rose 115.39 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 76,520.38. The Nifty went up by 50 points or 0.22 per cent to end at 23,205.35.
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