Mumbai: Negative global cues such as high crude oil prices, along with a weak rupee and heavy selling pressure in banking stocks triggered by a likely hawkish stand of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its next monetary policy review subdued the key Indian equity indices on Friday.
According to market observers, the downfall was arrested on the back of an accelerated pick-up in IT and Teck (technology, media and entertainment) stocks as well as expectations of healthy quarterly results.
Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 10,564.05 points — down 1.25 points or 0.01 per cent — from the previous close.
Similarly, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed on a flat note. It opened at 34,434.14 points, closed at 34,415.58 points — down 11.71 points or 0.03 per cent — from its previous session’s close.
In the intra-day trade, the Sensex touched a high of 34,487.33 points and a low of 34,311.29 points with a bearish breadth of 1,478 declines and 1,148 advances.
In the broader market segment, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed lower 0.44 per cent and the small-cap index ended a tad higher by 0.02 per cent.
“Markets ended on a flat note on Friday after a volatile session that saw the Nifty witnessing a roller coaster ride,” said Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
“The Nifty index slid lower in the morning session into negative territory, but a sharp recovery in the afternoon session from the lows of 10,527 ensured the Nifty ended with a minor loss,” Jasani told IANS.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by 33 paise to 66.13 against the US dollar from its previous close at 65.80.
In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 21.02 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 111.01 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE IT index rose by 611.30 points, followed by Teck (technology, media and entertainment) which gained 263.25 points and auto stocks which edged up by 43.72 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE banking index fell by 291.67 points, capital goods index by 169.52 points and metal index by 96.37 points.
Scrip-wise, shares of IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Friday rose nearly seven per cent to touch a new high of Rs 3,414 per share, taking its market capitalisation (m-cap) to over Rs 6.50 lakh crore or around $98 billion.
The major Sensex gainers on Friday were Infosys, up 4.02 per cent at Rs 1,178.25; Coal India, up 3.25 per cent at Rs 292.05; Wipro, up 2.31 per cent at Rs 298.35; and Bharti Airtel, up 1.47 per cent at Rs 400.75 per share.
The top losers on Sensex were Yes Bank, down 3 per cent at Rs 308.45; ICICI Bank, down 2.49 per cent at Rs 281.95; Tata Steel, down 2.29 per cent at Rs 606.35; State Bank of India, down 1.97 per cent at Rs 241.40; and NTPC, down 1.80 per cent at Rs 174.25 per share.
IANS