Profit booking, weak rupee pull indices Indian equity markets lower

Mumbai: Profit bookings in key counters such as banking along with subdued foreign fund inflows and a weak rupee pulled the key indices of the Indian equity markets lower on Friday.

Consequently, both S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 slid during the day’s trade.

Sector-wise, heavy selling pressure was observed in IT, banking and capital goods stocks, whereas the scrip of metal and automobile companies saw healthy pick-up.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 40,359.41 points, down 215.76 points, or by 0.53 per cent, over the previous close of 40,575.17 points.

After opening at 40,653.17 points, the Sensex swayed between an intra-day high of 40,653.17 and low of 40,276.83.

Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange closed at 11,914.40, lower by 54 points, or by 0.45 per cent, over its previous close.

However, broader market indices like the BSE mid-cap and small-cap outperformed both the Sensex and Nifty.

“Carrying on from the previous session, markets continued to slide lower on Friday as selling pressure continued,” HDFC Securities’ Retail Research Head Deepak Jasani told IANS.

“It was the second consecutive session of losses for the Nifty,” he added.

According to Joseph K. Thomas, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management: “The weakness in banking and IT stocks was the major contributing factor behind dragging the markets down in today’s trading session.

“The support received from the recent run-up in key telecom counters was also missing today. On the technical front, the level of 12,000 is seen as a key resistance by many market participants, which adds up to the selling pressure. We believe post the short duration of profit booking, markets should reverse on a much more stronger footing.” (IANS)

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