The benchmark indices on Thursday settled the holiday-truncated week lower after index heavyweight Infosys’ revenue guidance and plan to distribute cash to shareholders fell short of expectations, raising concerns at the start of the March quarter earnings.
The geopolitical worries, after the United States launched cruise missiles against an air base in Syria last week and fears of a new weapons test by North Korea, also contributed to the losses.
Investors also took cues from the index of industrial production (IIP) data, which contracted in February and consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation data, which edged up in March.
The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 29,461, down 182 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 9,150, down 53 points. For the week, the Sensex shed 245 points or 0.8%, while the Nifty slipped 47 points or 0.5%.
Reblog: Nifty ends the week at 9,108; logs 1st weekly fall in March; banking stocks gain
The benchmark indices on Friday settled higher thanks to gains in banking stocks following news reports that the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has promised to offer a solution to the growing non-performing assets (NPA) crisis in next few days.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 29,421, up 89 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,108, up 22 points. Both the indices logged their first weekly loss in March, retreating from a record high hit last week.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap ended 0.1% down, while the S&P BSE Smallcap index gained 0.3%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative. On the BSE, 1,471 shares declined and 1,346 shares advanced. A total of 218 shares were unchanged.
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