Sensex slips for 3rd day, sheds 233 pts; Nifty ends below 17,200

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices rounded off the week by closing lower on Friday after training sideways throughout the day. Sentiments were hurt by a third fuel price hike during the week, which pointed toward higher inflation print this month.

IT and pharma stocks saw profit-booking after rallying earlier in the week. Meanwhile realty stocks saw buying. Analysts believe ease in Covid restrictions in India is a boost for sectors like hospitality, multiplex and transportation, leading to the outperformance, hence they should be watched over next few weeks.

The 30-share pack Sensex declined 233.48 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 57,362.20. Its broader peer NSE Nifty fell 69.75 points or 0.40 per cent to 17,153. Both indices closed in the end for the third straight day.


“The market has turned sideways with a negative bias due to increase in commodity prices, tightening monetary policy and inflationary pressure. Domestic market is showing strong resilience but to sustain the trend a lot will depend on the outcome of the war and commodity prices,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a Glance:

• Ruchi Soya Industries FPO subscribed 31% so far on Day 2
• TCS declines 1% after buyback acceptance ratio comes in at 26%
• Future Enterprises slumps 5% after defaulting to banks
• Vikram Thermo surges 6% as board to consider bonus issue
• IndiGo Spikes 4% after JP Morgan upgrades it to Neutral

Among the bluechip names, Bajaj Auto was the biggest gainer, rising 1.90 per cent. Adani Ports, SBI, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, SBI Life Insurance and Bharti Airtel were other major gainers.

Titan was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 3.38 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Indian Oil, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Nestle India, Cipla and ONGC were other names that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended lower, but outperformed their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap fell 0.49 per cent and Nifty Midcap declined 0.12 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended down 0.32 per cent.

Dhani Services, Adani Total Gas, Indian Hotels, JM Financials, Engineers India and HEG were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices. GNFC, Jubilant Ingrevia, Wockhardt, Ajanta Pharma and Astral Pipes were major losers from broader market space.

Sectoral matrix on NSE was mixed. Nifty IT was the top loser, down 1 per cent, followed by Nifty Pharma. Nifty Realty was the top gainer, rising 1.22 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank also managed to close with gains.

Market breadth was in favour of losers as 1,347 stocks ended in the green, while 2,057 names settled with cuts. As many as 132 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 39 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 267 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 255 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading mixed. London-based FTSE declined 0.05 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt rose 0.18 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea closed with gains while the rest registered losses.