Profit booking snaps 3-day winning streak

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty pared their early gains to settle lower in choppy trade on the last day of the 2021-22 fiscal on Thursday mainly due to profit-taking in Reliance Industries (RIL), Infosys and HDFC Bank after a three-day rally.

Ending its three-day winning run, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 115.48 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 58,568.51 amid the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts. During the day, it touched a high of 58,890.92 and a low of 58,485.79. The broader NSE Nifty declined by 33.50 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 17,464.75 with 30 of its stocks ending with losses.

For 2021-22 fiscal, the BSE Sensex jumped 9,059.36 points or 18.29 per cent, while the Nifty rallied 2,774.05 points or 18.88 per cent.

"Even as markets ended the last day of the financial year in a rather quiet mood, it has delivered a 19 per cent return this financial year on the Nifty with two sectoral indices - metals and media returning over 50 per cent this financial year. On the broader market as well, both the midcap-100 and smallcap-100 delivered over 25 per cent return this year. Such returns in a year when FPI's have pulled out big money highlights the confidence of the Indian investor amidst a slew of headwinds," said S Ranganathan, head (research) at LKP Securities.

"Investors followed global market cues, which were mostly weak as most of them had rallied in the last few sessions on fall in crude oil prices and expectations of some solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. After seeing sharp gyration during the week, investors exercised caution with a negative bias on the expiry day," said Shrikant Chouhan, head (equity research-retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Harsh Parekh, technical analyst, Bonanza Portfolio, adds: "Indian equity indices opened today on a positive note on the back of a weak US dollar and FPI turning buyers. But indices turned volatile in afternoon trade and ended the three-day winning run."

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 1,357.47 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.