Mkts snap winning streak as selling pressure mounts

Mumbai: Halting their record-breaking rally, equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure on Friday as investors pared exposure to oil & gas, capital goods and FMCG stocks amid a bearish trend in global markets. However, recent foreign capital inflows and buying in index majors Bharti Airtel, Infosys and TCS helped indices restrict the losses, traders said.

Snapping its six-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 269.03 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 77,209.90. During the day, it tanked 676.93 points or 0.87 per cent to 76,802. The Nifty rose 100.1 points to hit a record intraday peak of 23,667.10 earlier in the day. However, it failed to maintain the momentum and slipped 65.90 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 23,501.10.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark climbed 217.13 points or 0.28 per cent, while the Nifty went up by 35.5 points or 0.15 per cent. "The domestic market witnessed minor profit-booking amid concerns over the slow progress of monsoon, resulting in underperformance in the FMCG sector. The global markets were subdued as weak guidance from Accenture led to profit booking in US tech stocks," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Among the Sensex companies, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Nestle, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra and State Bank of India were the biggest laggards. In contrast, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, JSW Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and NTPC were among the biggest gainers.

"Nifty ended lower in a highly volatile session on Friday; however it rose for three weeks in a row to record its highest weekly close even as it fell on Friday. Asian shares were mostly lower Friday after a retreat on Wall Street," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.26 per cent, while smallcap climbed 0.06 per cent. Among sectoral indices, Oil & Gas went lower by 1.28 per cent, FMCG (1.08 per cent), capital goods (0.96 per cent), commodities (0.92 per cent), realty (0.75 per cent) and auto (0.71 per cent). On the other hand, IT, telecommunication, metal, power, tech and services were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. European markets were quoting in the red. US markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 415.30 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.