Stock Market: Indices Log Sixth Day Loss; Sensex Dips 136 Points, Nifty Ends Below 15,800

Stock update: On the BSE, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, and Maruti were the biggest losers

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Friday extended their fall for the sixth straight session, mostly due to losses in the banking and financial stocks at the fag end of the selling.

Investors’ sentiment got dented after India’s headline inflation clocked to an eight-year high of 7.79 per cent, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for another key rate hikes next month.

The 30-share BSE Sensex cut all intra-day gains and slumped 136 points (0.26 per cent) to end at 52,793. The Sensex had rallied 855 points (1.61 per cent) to 53,785. While the broader NSE Nifty settled day’s trade at 15,782, down 26 points.

On the BSE, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, and Maruti were the biggest losers. On the flip side, Sun Pharma, M&M, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, and Reliance were among the gainers.

In the broader market, BSE midcap and smallcap shares finished weak as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.03 per cent and smallcap shed 0.94 per cent.

On the NSE, seven out of the 15 sector gauges settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Metal underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.23 per cent, 1.26 per cent and 2.08 per cent, respectively.

In the previous trading session on Thursday, the Sensex plunged 1,158 (2.14 per cent) to end at 52,930. The NSE Nifty fell 359 points (2.22 per cent) to settle at 15,808.

In Asia, markets settled higher, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Shanghai gaining significantly.

In Europe, stock exchanges were quoting higher in the afternoon session. In the US, bourses had ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.09 per cent to $108.6 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree and offloaded shares worth a net Rs 5,255.75 crore on Thursday.

"FPIs continue their selling spree further impacting sentiments. To top it all, CPI inflation for April has come at a disturbingly high level of 7.79 per cent, leaving no option for RBI but to turn hawkish in the coming policy meets," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told the PTI.