Both the indices registered their second straight weekly fall by losing 205.66 points, or 0.65%, and 80.20 points, or 0.82%, respectively. “Market continued to consolidate due to lack of major triggers to support the upmove while FIIs were net sellers, which added fears to the stability of the rupee.
The USFDA overhang continues to impact pharma,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. At one point, the broader Nifty went past the 9,600- mark.
At the close, however, it was up 10 points, or 0.10%, at 9,588.05. After a higher opening, the Sensex scaled the day’s high of 31,182.73 points, but closed down 19.33 points, or 0.06%, at 31,056.40. The index was seen nearer to this level on May 26 when the closing was 31,028.21 points.
The gauge had lost 80.18 points in the previous session. Risk appetite got a push after India’s exports grew 8.32% to $24.01bn in May. Global crude falling to a 7-month low supported the positive mood. However, trade deficit soaring to nearly 30-month high of $13.84bn, largely due to increase in gold imports, forced investors to go in for a cautious approach. Asia saw a mixed trend and Europe a higher opening.
Tata Motors led from the front, up 1.57%, on its fund-raising plans. ITC, Adani Ports, SBI and NTPC rose. Lupin ended with most losses, down 4.40%.
Ipca Laboratories tanked 8.08% amid increasing scrutiny from the US healthcare regulator. While the BSE FMCG rose followed by consumer durables, the healthcare index slumped 1.52%. The broader markets pulled ahead, outperforming the key indices.
Domestic investors bought shares worth a net Rs854.85 crore while foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 654.35 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data.
Meanwhile the rupee yesterday pared all the morning losses and closed stronger against the US dollar.
The rupee closed at 64.43 a dollar, up 0.17% from previous close of 64.54. The rupee opened at 64.67 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.40 and 64.74 respectively.
Trade deficit for May widened to $13.84bn from $6.27bn a year ago and $13.25bn a month ago mainly due to increase in gold import.
Exports rose 8.3% to $24bn, while imports jumped 33% to $37.85bn. Gold, silver and precious and semi-precious stones recorded a growth of 128% in May.
The 10-year bond yield closed at 6.489% compared to its previous close of 6.482%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 5.65%, while foreign investors bought $8.44bn and $13.37bn in local equity and debt markets, respectively.
Asian currencies were trading lower after dollar strengthened on delayed reaction to more Hawkish Fed and better-than-expected US data.
South Korean won was down 0.68%, Taiwan dollar 0.38%, Philippines peso 0.33%, Malaysian ringgit 0.26%, Japanese yen 0.23%, China offshore 0.15%, Indonesian rupiah 0.13%, China renminbi 0.07% and Singapore dollar 0.05%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 97.330, down 0.11% from its previous close of 97.433.