After remaining range-bound for most part of the session, benchmark indices turned highly volatile in the last hour of the trade on Friday with the indices briefly swinging into positive territory, before settling flat with negative bias. Except metal stocks, selling was witnessed across the board.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,098, down 25 points or 0.08 per cent. Of 30 constituents, 20 declined and 10 advanced. Mahindra & Mahindra (down around 5 per cent) ended as the top loser on the index while telecom major Bharti Airtel (up nearly 3 per cent) was the biggest gainer.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and Infosys contributed the most to the index's loss. Market breadth was inclined towards bears as out of 2,493 companies traded on the BSE, 1,230 declined and 1,086 advanced while 177 remained unchanged.
On the NSE, Nifty ended at 9,137, down 6 points or 0.06 per cent.
On a weekly basis, Sensex fell 1.72 per cent while Nifty lost 1.23 per cent.
Sectorally, PSU bank stocks bled the most with the Nifty PSU Bank index ending at 1,186.10, down 1.64 per cent. Nifty Bank ended at 18,834, down 235 points or over 1 per cent. Nifty Auto ended 1 per cent lower at 5,745.70.
On the other hand, Nifty Metal index rallied 1.6 per cent to 1,742.60-mark.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index settled 0.3 per cent lower at 11,500.32 and the S&P BSE SmallCap index shed 0.16 per cent to 10,688.86 levels.
Buzzing stocks
India Cements jumped 13 per cent to Rs 114 on the BSE after the company said the Damani family’s stake in the company increased to nearly 20 per cent in the March quarter. The stock was trading close to its 52-week high level of Rs 117, touched on May 28, 2019.
Shares of Unichem Laboratories jumped as much as 9.6 per cent to Rs 139.70 apiece on the BSE after the company informed that it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) facility at Roha. The stock ended at Rs 133, up nearly 4.5 per cent.
On the other hand, shares of multiplex operators PVR and Inox Leisure hit their respective 52-week lows in the early deals on the BSE on Friday amid reports that the Maharashtra government could extend lockdown in Mumbai, Pune and other hotspots in the state till May 31.
Global markets
Asian stocks edged up on Friday but were on course to end the week lower as deteriorating US-China relations add to uncertainties over how fast economies can recover as they start to emerge from lockdowns. Worries about confrontations between the two largest economies in the world eclipsed Chinese economic data, which showed its economy is gradually recovering from the shock of the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6 per cent but finished the week down 0.7 per cent while mainland Chinese shares were mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent but has lost about 1 per cent so far this week.
In Europe, shares rose with miners and energy firms gaining.
In commodities, oil prices jumped more than 3 per cent, touching more than one-month highs amid signs that demand for crude was picking up with China reporting increased refinery runs, and rounding out a week of bullish news on the supply front.
 "Market Wrap, May 15: Here's all that happened in the markets today")
