Stock Market: Sensex Sheds 126 Points; Nifty Around 19,750. Tata Motors Gain Over 4%, IT Drags

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank, Infosys, SBI, Wipro, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank were among the losers. Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, HCL, Nestle, Maruti, Sun Pharma emerged gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday recouped their losses in the second half of the trading session. The domestic indices, though staged a smart recovery, closed in the red. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 66,283, down 126 points, after hitting an intraday low of 65,895. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50, which hit a low of 19,635, settled at 19,751, down 43 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank, Infosys, SBI, Wipro, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank were among the losers. On the flip side, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, HCL, Nestle, Maruti, Sun Pharma emerged gainers. Tata Motors gained 4.76 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined 0.05 per cent and 0.04 per cent, respectively.

Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.4 per cent. PSU bank and information technology stock went down 0.5-1 per cent. Nifty Auto index gained 0.88 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed the session at 66,408, down 65 points, while the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 19,794, down 17 points.

"Mixed trends on the sectoral front kept the participants busy wherein auto and realty posted decent gains while pressure continued in banking and IT," Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

Key Asian indices declined following losses in the US markets due to a rebound in US bond market yields. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 2.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.6 per cent after weak Chinese trade data. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.6 per cent. Stock markets in France, Germany and the UK also traded lower.

Rising US 10-year bond yield and a fall in Asian markets impacted domestic equities, analysts said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,862.57 crore, according to data available with BSE.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell 2 paise to settle at 83.26 (provisional) against the US dollar on surging crude oil prices overseas and a downward trend in the domestic equities. Forex traders said that positive macroeconomic data failed to rev up the local currency, which has been under pressure due to the elevated level of the dollar and sustained withdrawal of foreign funds.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.25 and traded in a narrow range before settling at 83.26 (provisional) against the greenback, 2 paise lower from its Thursday closing level.