Sensex ends on Friday 152 points lower, Nifty below 9,600 as investors book profits
The benchmark indices settled lower on Friday as investors booked profits in financials such as State Bank of India and auto makers such as Maruti Suzuki India. The negative trend in European and Asian markets also impacted the sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,138, down 152 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,574, down 55 points.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices shed over 1% each.
Market breadth depicted weakness. There were more than three losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,936 shares fell and 683 shares rose. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.
For the week, both the indices logged small weekly gains on hopes the Reserve Bank of India will cut interest rates after minutes from a monetary policy committee meeting earlier this month showed one member acknowledging that inflation had eased.
Caution is, however, likely to prevail in the near term as the country gears up to unveil a nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, while monitoring global factors such as falling crude prices.
The Nifty PSU Bank was the leading sectoral loser and dropped 2%, led by losses in Andhra Bank (down 4%), Union Bank (down 3%) and Canara Bank (down 3%). State Bank of India fell nearly 2% after gaining in the last five sessions.
The Nifty Auto index fell 1.7%. Maruti Suzuki was down 1.2% after gaining in the last two sessions, while Bajaj Auto shed 1%.
Electrosteel Steels slipped as much as 7.9% while Bhushan Steel fell as much as 10% after a forum of lenders, led by SBI sent both the companies, along with Essar Steel to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for further action under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
Fortis Healthcare slumped as much as 15% to Rs 168.25, its lowest in more than six months, after Malaysia’s Integrated Healthcare Holdings said it was not engaged in any negotiations in India currently.
