The barometer finally ended at 29,365.30, down 57.09 points or 0.19%. The broader NSE Nifty closed lower by 17 points, or 0.19%, at 9,119.40 after shuttling between 9,183.65 and 9,088.75. On a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex fell 96.15 points, or 0.32%, and the Nifty 31.40 points, or 0.34%, sliding for the second straight week.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 168.84 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
“The quarterly results till date have painted a mixed picture while concerns over upcoming French election is adding risk to the market. A hawkish tone of RBI in its latest minutes has also added pressure on the downside,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
Sun Pharma emerged as the top loser in the Sensex pack by plunging 2.41% to Rs 640.05, followed by Cipla (1.84%). Other laggards were ITC (1.81%), Adani Ports (1.72%), Power Grid (1.44%), Wipro (1.36%), ICICI Bank (1.34%), Lupin (1.31%), M&M (1.28%), Coal India (1.12%), Maruti Suzuki (1.10%), HUL (1.08%) and SBI (0.97%). HDFC Bank was the biggest gainer, rising 2.38% to Rs 1,496.75 after the company report an 18.2% growth in net profit at Rs 3,990 crore for the March quarter. Reliance Industries remained at the centre of brisk activity and surged 2.22% to Rs 1,399.75. NTPC, Asian Paints, L&T, Hero MotoCorp and ONGC too ended in green, rising up to 1.83%.
Outshining the Sensex, the broader markets put up a better show, with the small-cap index rising 0.25% and mid-cap gaining 0.02%. Globally, US markets ended higher overnight amid revived hopes of tax cuts, while Bank of Japan said it will keep accommodative policy in place.
Meanwhile the rupee yesterday closed marginally lower against the US dollar after local equity markets fell eight out of eleven trading sessions.
The home currency closed at 64.61, down 0.08% from its Thursday’s close of 64.56. The rupee opened at 64.65 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.55 and 64.67 respectively. Year-to-date, it gained 5.2%.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers for the eight consecutive session and sold nearly $581.86mn in the local equity markets in this period. So far this year, they have bought $6.35bn and $7.12bn from local equity and debt markets, respectively.
India’s 10 year bond yield gained five out of six sessions after minutes of the Reserve Bank of India signalled possibility of rate hike.
Five out of six members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) were concerned about an increase in inflation, and one even suggested a 25 basis point increase in the repurchase, or repo, rate, according to the minutes of the panel’s last meeting, released on Thursday.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.924%, compared to its previous close of 6.877%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
“Overall, the minutes suggest that there are growing divergences within the MPC with two out of six members biased towards rate hikes. The call by one of the members (Michael Patra) for a pre-emptive rate hike is a surprise. Although we believe this will be necessary in 2018, we did not expect it to be mentioned just yet”, said Nomura Research in a note to its investors.
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