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


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 this week.

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 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 25 of the 30 constituents and ended at 48,782 levels today, down 983.5 points.

On a weekly basis, both the frontline indices snapped their 3-week losing streak and added around 2 per cent higher 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 174 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.

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RBI liquidity measures cheer markets; Sensex up 327 points, Nifty tops 11,900


Continuing their gaining streak for the seventh session in a row, the benchmark indices ended nearly a per cent higher on Friday after the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the RBI left the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent but announced a slew of liquidity measures to support the economy.

Further, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the stance of the policy would remain “accommodative,” for “as long as necessary – at least during the current financial year and into the next year – to revive growth. READ MORE

The S&P BSE Sensex today ended 327 points, or 0.81 per cent higher at 40,509 levels while the Nifty50 index settled above the 11,900-mark at 11,914, up 80 points, or 0.67 per cent. On a weekly basis, Sensex rallied 4.6 per cent and Nifty gained 4.3 per cent.

ICICI Bank and Axis Bank (both up 3.64 per cent) were the top Sensex gainers, followed by SBI, and HDFC Bank (both up 3.5 per cent).

The Nifty sectoral indices were mixed. While Nifty Bank gained nearly 3 per cent to 23,847 levels, Nifty Pharma ended as the biggest loser – down over 1.3 per cent.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 0.42 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap ended 0.29 per cent lower at 14,966 levels.

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Sensex surges 835 points, Nifty reclaims 11K; Nifty IT up over 3% on Friday


The Indian stock market ended over 2 per cent higher on Friday due to across-the-board buying.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 835 points, or 2.28 per cent higher at 37,389 levels with all the 30 constituents ending in the green. Bajaj Finserv (up 6.6 per cent) was the top gainer on the index, followed by HCL Tech (up over 5 per cent), and Bharti Airtel (up 5 per cent).

NSE’s Nifty, meanwhile, reclaimed the crucial 11,000 level to settle at 11,050, up 245 points, or 2.26 per cent. India VIX dropped nearly 12 per cent to 20.76 levels.

On a weekly basis, both Sensex and Nifty declined nearly 4 per cent.

All the Nifty sectoral indices ended in the green, led by Nifty IT and FMCG indexes, both up nearly 3.5 per cent, each.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained around 3 per cent to 14,337 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index added 2.31 per cent to 14,496 levels.

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