Stock Market Snaps Winning Streak: Sensex Tanks 652 Points, Nifty Settles At 17,758

Stock Market: IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Maruti, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, and Reliance Industries were among the biggest laggards on the BSE

Sensex and Nifty, the two equity benchmarks, on Friday snapped their winning streak after declining over 1 per cent each amid profit-taking and weak global market trends. The domestic indices also witnessed heavy selling pressure in banking and financial stocks.

The BSE Sensex, which had started the trade on a firm note, later gave up all the early gains and ended 651 points (1.08 per cent) lower at 59,646. During the day, it tanked 823 points to 59,474. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty fell 198 points (1.10 per cent) to settle at 17,758.

From the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Maruti, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, and Reliance Industries were among the biggest laggards. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.

The market breadth of the BSE stood negative on Friday as out of 30 constituents, only 3 advanced, while 27 declined.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 1.27 per cent and 0.93 per cent, respectively.

Sectorwise, the BSE Metal index shed 1.8 per cent, the BSE Bankex index 1.7 per cent, and the BSE PSU index 1.6 per cent

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark index had ended 37 points (0.06 per cent higher), while the Nifty gained 12 points (0.07 per cent) to end at 17,956.

“Profit-booking amid weak global cues impacted domestic indices as concerns about interest rate hikes hung over the markets. Additionally, the recent rally of the dollar index and FIIs turning net sellers has surprised bulls. Broad-based selling was witnessed with the index heavyweights dragging the index further down,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo ended lower, while Hong Kong settled in the green. Stock markets in Europe were trading mostly lower during mid-session deals. Wall Street had ended higher on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.38 per cent lower at $95.25 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers after many days, offloading shares worth Rs 1,706 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.