Markets skid for 6th day as bears tighten grip

Mumbai: Market benchmarks gave up intra-day gains to close in the red for the sixth session on the trot on Friday, capping a bruising week which saw a massive dash for safety amid rate hikes by global central banks and fears of slowing growth. Investors were further hemmed in by unrelenting foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices.

After a, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 135.37 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at an over one-year low of 51,360.42. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty lost 67.10 points or 0.44 per cent to end at 15,293.50. Titan emerged as the top laggard among the Sensex constituents, skidding 6.06 per cent, followed by Wipro, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, L&T, UltraTech Cement and PowerGrid. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, HDFC Bank and Tata Steel were among the gainers, spurting up to 2.63 per cent. "With central banks' policy tone pointing towards continued rate hikes of higher magnitude, we can expect FIIs to maintain their selling spree. The domestic market will continue to trade with high volatility in the near term. "However, the ongoing corrections are opportunities in disguise for medium to long-term investments," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. On a weekly basis, the Sensex plunged 2,943.02 points or 5.42 per cent, while the Nifty shed 908.30 points or 5.61 per cent. Over the last six sessions, equity investors have lost a whopping Rs 18.17 lakh crore, with the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms standing at Rs 2,36,77,816.08. "For the last few weeks, the capital market has witnessed substantial outflows.

On the global front, the US Fed hiked the interest rates by 75 bps which was expected to somehow control the current scenario. The RBI has taken proactive measures by trying to balance the ongoing surge in inflation and growth. "Considering the increase in capital expenditure and better credit growth for the banks, India's economy is considered to be less risky as compared to other emerging markets in the long term. The foreign institutions surely have more faith and confidence in India's growth story and the current exodus of cashflows will eventually slow down over the coming weeks," said Manoj Purohit, Partner & Leader - Financial Services Tax, BDO India. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined by 0.88 per cent on Friday, while the midcap index dipped 0.68 per cent.