Sensex tanks 984 pts, ends at 48,782; financials crack; Nifty Pharma up 1%

On a weekly basis, both the frontline indices snapped their 3-week losing streak and added around 2 per cent higher each

Stock markets update: It was a freaky Friday for Dalal Street investors as bears came roaring amid weakness in Asian markets and unabated rise in Covid-19 cases along with hiccups in vaccination drive back home. Profit booking too weighed on markets following four straight sessions of gains that led to a 4 per cent rally in the benchmark indices. 

The headline indices eased 2 per cent today amid massive selling in all but pharma sector. The Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices took the sharpest knock and dropped 3 per cent each while the Nifty FMCG, Auto, IT, and Realty indices slipped up to 1.5 per cent. The Nifty Pharma index bucked the trend and settled 1 per cent higher.

In effect, NSE's 50-share index erased 264 points to close at 14,631 levels, dragged mainly by HDFC (down 4.2 per cent), HDFC Bank (4 per cent), ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints,  M&M, TCS, Tata Motors, and Adani Ports. The losses were, however, capped by gains in ONGC (4 per cent), Coal India, Divi's Labs, Grasim, and Indian Oil Corporation.   

On the BSE, the Sensex index nursed losses in 25 of the 30 constituents and ended at 48,782 levels, down 983.5 points.

On a weekly basis, both the frontline indices snapped their 3-week losing streak and added around 2 per cent each. 

SmallCap scrips, meanwhile, remained resilient in the weak market with stocks such as Uttam Sugar, Tata Metaliks,Jay Bharat Maruti, and Confidence Petroleum India rallying between 14 per cent and 16 per cent. At the index level, the S&P BSE SmallCap settled just 0.07 per cent lower.

The MidCap index, on the other hand, slipped 0.65 per cent.

Global markets

In Asia, MSCI's ex-Japan index lost 0.9 per cent, following a softer-than-expected survey of China’s manufacturing. Chinese tech giant shares listed in Hong Kong also buckled as Beijing summoned 13 internet platforms to order them to strengthen compliance with regulations, weighing on the Hang Seng index.

Mainland Chinese shares lost 0.8 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei also shed 0.8 per cent on position adjustments ahead of a long weekend. 

In Europe, on the contrary, stocks held near a record high and the euro was on course for its best month in nine as strong US data and corporate earnings plus the Federal Reserve’s commitment to support the economy fuelled investors’ appetite for risk.

MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks covering 50 markets dipped 0.1 per cent but remained close to a record peak touched the previous day, up 5 per cent on the month. In Europe, euro Stoxx futures were steady and Britain's FTSE 100 traded up 0.2 per cent.

US stock futures were down 0.3 per cent after the S&P 500 closed at an all-time high.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:25 PM

TECH VIEW :: Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

The sharp weakness of Friday, after the failed upside breakout attempt of upper range at 15K of Thursday seems to have dampen the effort of bulls. The overall chart setup from smaller to larger time frame signal chances of upside bounce in the market from the lower levels and a formation of higher bottom around the support of 14500-14400 levels by next week. On the upside 14850 is likely to act as a hurdle.

 

4:20 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The market turned into a correction phase following weakness in the Asian market despite hopeful signs from Wall Street. Rising covid cases and uncertainties surrounding vaccination added more pressure on the market. Along with small-cap stocks, pharma, metal, and oil & gas were the sectoral gainers while profit booking was seen in banking stocks

4:17 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

Index opened a day with a gap down & traded whole day with negative bias and closed day at 14631 with loss of nearly two per cent forming a bearish candle on the daily chart.  On the downside index has good support at 14580-14500 zone if managed to save said levels then some bounce possible otherwise we may see the next leg of a move towards 14200 zone on the downside, resistance is placed at 14730-14810 zone we may see profit booking again around these levels

4:14 PM

Primary market action :: PowerGrid InviT IPO subscribed 54% so far on Day 2

4:07 PM

Ahead of results :: IndusInd Bank ends marginally lower

4:05 PM

Ahead of results :: Reliance Industries slips 1.4%

4:02 PM

Sector of the day :: Shriram Transport Fin, HDFC top laggards on the index

3:59 PM

Sector of the day :: Divi's Labs, Cadila Health top gainers on Nifty Pharma index

3:55 PM

Broader market :: S&P BSE SmallCap ends flat

3:52 PM

Broader market :: S&P BSE MidCap index slips in trade but outperform benchmarks

3:50 PM

Stocks that witnessed heavy volumes on the Sensex today

3:48 PM

Top drags on the Sensex today

3:44 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE :: Financial index falls 3%, Pharma up 1%

3:41 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close :: Only 5 of the 30 constituents end in the green

3:33 PM

CLOSING BELL

The benchmark indices eased 2 per cent today amid massive selling in all but pharma sector. The Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices took the sharpest knock and dropped 3 per cent each while the Nifty FMCG, Auto, IT, and Realty indices slipped up to 1.5 per cent. The Nifty Pharma index, which hit a record high of 13,619 in the intra-day trade, bucked the trend and gained settled 1 per cent higher.

 

In effect, NSE's 50-share index erased 264 points to close at 14,631 levels dragged mainly by HDFC (down 4.2 per cent), HDFC Bank (4 per cent), ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints,  M&M, TCS, Tata Motors, and Adani Ports. The losses were, however, capped by gains in ONGC (4 per cent), Coal India, Divi's Labs, Grasim, and Indian Oil Corporation.   

 

On the BSE, the Sensex index nursed losses in 27 of the 30 constituents and ended at 48,782 levels today, down 983 points.