Stock Market: Sensex Declines 111 Points, Nifty Holds 15,750; Reliance Tanks 7 Per Cent
Stock update: On the 30-share BSE platform, Reliance was the top loser, down 7.14 per cent. PowerGrid, NTPC, Airtel, Maruti, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, and Dr Reddy’s were the other losers
Sensex and Nifty, two key equity benchmarks, on Friday extended their fall to the third straight day, dragged by heavy losses in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and other energy stocks after the government imposed tax on oil refiners’ windfall gain. Stock of state-run ONGC plunged 13.30 per cent on Friday.
The BSE Sensex sank 111 points (0.21 per cent) lower to close at 52,908, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 28 points (0.18 per cent) lower to settle at 15,752. The Sensex index gyrated 959 points intra-day.
On the 30-share BSE platform, Reliance was the top loser, down 7.14 per cent. PowerGrid, NTPC, Airtel, Maruti, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, and Dr Reddy’s were the other losers. On the flipside, ITC was the prime gainer, up 3.99 per cent. Bajaj twins, Asian Paints, HUL, HDFC twins, Nestle, TCS are some of the companies which settled in the green.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 0.07 per cent and 0.46 per cent, respectively.
On NSE, one out of the 15 sector gauges settled in the red. Among sectors, the BSE Oil and Gas Index dropped 3.5 per cent. However, Nifty FMCG showed strength by climbing 2.82 per cent.
The overall market breadth, however, stood positive as 1,743 shares advanced, while 1,537 declined on the BSE.
Shares of oil upstream firms, including Reliance Industries (RIL), ONGC, and Oil India, came under heavy selling pressure on Friday after the government imposed taxes on the export of petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel, as it mandated exporters of these products to meet the requirements of the domestic market first.
In their previous session on Thursday, Sensex had declined 150 points (0.28 per cent) to close at 53,027, while Nifty had moved 51 points (0.32 per cent) lower to settle at 15,799.
Meanwhile, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low to close 12 paise higher at 78.94 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 78.99 against the greenback and fell to an intra-day low of 79.12. It finally settled at 78.94, a rise of 12 paise over its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee had slipped 3 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 79.06 against the US dollar.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.79 per cent to $110.98 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,138.05 crore, as per stock exchange data.
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