Sensex falls 664 points from day’s high, ends 49 points down; RIL up 2%, autos dip

A firm trading session witnessed an anti-climatic end with almost all the sectors giving up their gains. The Nifty Auto index was the worst hit as it shed around 1.8 per cent, while the Nifty Bank, Metal, PSU/Private Banks, and Realty indices fell up to 1 per cent each. The Nifty IT index was the only gainer, up 0.45 per cent.

Overall, the BSE Sensex index fell 664 points from the day’s high to close at 55,769, down 49 points or 0.09 per cent. The Nifty50, too, shut shop at 16,584, down 44 points or 0.26 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 16,794.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 1.45 per cent and 1.16 per cent, respectively.

Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 3 per cent to Rs 2,816.35 on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade, having rallied 7 per cent in the past two trading days amid heavy volumes. RIL has seen addition of Rs 1.25 trillion in its total market capitalisation of Rs 19.05 trillion during this period.

Shares of Hikal slipped 21% in one week as the stock hit a fresh 52-week low on disappointing Q4. The inflationary pressures and a sharp rise in input costs of raw material, energy and solvents, the management expects industry growth to be tapered and margins to be contract in the current fiscal.

Shares of Deepak Nitrite dipped 5% after a fire broke out at company’s Vadodara facility. The company said it has kept all concerned authorities informed and the plant operations are expected to resume in a day or two upon clearance of damaged warehouse.

Newly listed, Aether Industries was locked at the upper circuit after listing at a 10% premium. The stock moved higher to Rs 776.75, 21 per cent higher against the issue price of Rs 642 per share.

Shares of cement companies were under pressure as they fell up to 9 per cent on the BSE on Friday in an otherwise firm market. The fall comes after the sector major UltraTech approved a new capital expenditure (capex) plan of Rs 12,886 crore to tide increased competition in the sector. Ramco Cement, ACC, Nuvoco Vistas, and Grasim were the top laggards.

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