Sensex ends marginally lower, PSU Bank stocks shine

Mumbai: Indian equity indices closed marginally lower on Friday as heavyweights like Reliance and ITC declined.

At closing, the Sensex was down 71 points or 0.09 per cent at 82,890 and Nifty was down 32 points or 0.13 per cent at 25,356.

The broader market sentiment was positive.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 2,483 shares were in the green, 1,473 shares in the red and 111 shares closed without any change.

In the Sensex pack, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, SBI and HCL Tech were the top gainers.

ITC, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and Reliance were the top losers.

Among the sectoral indices, PSU banks, metals, realty, media and private bank indices closed in the green.

FMCG, energy and infra closed in the red.

According to market experts, "The market took a breather and ended on a flat note after the previous day’s sharp uptick. Despite domestic CPI inflation being within the RBI's target band, the increase in food prices may influence the central bank to remain prudent on rates."

"Higher liquidity from FIIs to the domestic market and a slide in US’ 10-year yield increased the prospects of the FED rate cut, which will aid domestic sentiment," they added.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said, "The index remained range-bound throughout the day. On the lower timeframes, the RSI has entered a bearish crossover, signaling an early indication of a potential bearish momentum reversal. In the near term, the trend may remain sideways."

The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 7,695 crore on September 12, while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 1,800 crore on the same day.