Sensex, Nifty snap 5-day winning run amid rising inflation, worsening pandemic

NEW DELHI: After a wild move throughout the session, benchmark indices snapped their five-day winning streak on Friday, closing the week on a negative note. Rising inflation and a worsening pandemic soured the mood on Dalal Street.

Earnings announcements from India Inc also continue to impact individual stocks. The negative reaction to strong results from frontline IT names appears to point at heavy pre-positioning in the market, and might be a recurring theme for the ongoing results season, said analysts.

The 30-share pack Sensex fell 12.27 points or 0.02 per cent to close at 61,223.03. The index gyrated in a range of 570 points. Its broader peer NSE Nifty dropped 2.05 points or 0.01 per cent to 18,255.75.


“We anticipate strong results from frontline banks and metals companies and weak results from auto, FMCG and chemicals sectors. At the index level, we expect to see strong resistance at current levels and would anticipate a pull-back in the near-term,” said S Hariharan, Head- Sales Trading, Emkay Global Financial Services.

Market at a glance:

• Mindtree slumps 4 per cent despite healthy Q3 numbers
• Tata Metaliks plunges 4 per cent as Dec quarter profit declines
• Motherson Sumi plunges 21 per cent ahead of the demerger
• Paytm bounces from all-time low to end 8 per cent higher
• BPCL adds 1 per cent after Vedanta says it is ready to sign a cheque

Among the bluechip names, Tata Consumer was the top gainer, rising 4.19 per cent. Indian Oil, TCS, Infosys, Adani Ports, L&T, Bharat Petroleum, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Divi’s Labs were other gainers.

Asian Paints was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 2.67 per cent. Axis Bank, UPL, HUL, ONGC, M&M, Nestle India, HDFC, Wipro and Bharti Airtel were other stocks that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended mixed but outperformed their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap index rose 0.75 per cent and Nifty Midcap index dipped 0.02 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended up 0.06 per cent.

We may see further consolidation in the index however the bias would remain on the positive bias. Participants should continue with the “buy on dips” approach and focus on sectors that are trading in sync with the benchmark.

-Ajit Mishra, Religare Broking

Bharat Electricals, RBL Bank, IRCTC, Bharat Dynamics, HFCL and Jubilant Ingravia were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 4-8 per cent.

Mindtree, AU Small Finance Bank, Max Financial Services, Dilip Buildcon, Birlasoft and Zensar Tech were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 2-5 per cent.

The sectoral matrix on the NSE was mixed. Nifty Realty index was the biggest gainer, up 1.15 per cent followed by Nifty IT which gained 0.57 per cent. Nifty FMCG index was the biggest loser, down 0.71 per cent. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Auto indices also ended in the red.

Market breadth was in favour of gainers as 2,062 stocks ended in the green, while 1,345 names settled with cuts. As many as 370 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 12 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 560 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 270 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading lower. London-based FTSE fell 0.12 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt declined 0.67 per cent and 0.68 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Singapore and Indonesia ended in the green while the rest of the market ended in the red.