Sensex again comes below 60k mark

Mumbai: After a five-session winning streak, BSE benchmark Sensex nursed losses on Friday as investors pocketed gains amid a bearish trend overseas. A depreciating rupee and foreign fund outflows further soured risk sentiment, traders said. The 30-share gauge, which had started the trade on a firm note, soon gave up all the gains and finally ended 651.85 points or 1.08 per cent lower at 59,646.15.

The broader NSE Nifty snapped its eight-day rally to close at 17,758.45, down 198.05 points or 1.10 per cent. IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, dropping 3.82 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, SBI, NTPC, Maruti, Reliance Industries and HUL.

Only three counters managed to close in the green - Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and TCS, climbing up to 2.20 per cent. "Profit-booking amid weak global cues impacted domestic indices as concerns about interest rate hikes hung over the markets," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"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," he added. In the holiday-shortened week, the Sensex rose 183.37 points or 0.30 per cent, while the Nifty gained 60.30 points or 0.34 per cent. Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities Ltd, said interest-rate-sensitives such as banking, auto and realty stocks witnessed heavy profit-taking in Friday's session and halted benchmark indices' winning streak.

"Investors pressed the sell button after the recent US FOMC minutes indicated that the Federal Reserve may go for rate hikes in its next meeting, which prompted local investors to prune their holdings after the recent run-up," he noted. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 1.27 per cent and the smallcap index shed 0.93 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE realty fell by 2.14 per cent, followed by metal (1.84 per cent), FMCG (1.24 per cent), finance (1.63 per cent), oil & gas (1.62 per cent) and bank (1.61 per cent).