Mumbai, Jan 25 (PTI) Indian stock market took a breather Also Read - Republic Day Violence: Delhi Court Sends Actor-Activist Deep Sidhu To 14-Day Judicial Custody
after a six-session dizzying rally, with benchmark indices Also Read - 'Reflects Your Love For Nation': PM Modi Sends Letter of Praise to Dubai Boy Who Made His Portrait
Sensex and Nifty skidding from their closing peaks after Also Read - Republic Day Violence: Man Seen Swinging Swords at Red Fort Arrested
emergence of sell-off in recent high-flying counters.
The investor sentiment was majorly driven by under-
pressure banking stocks, which had recently seen sharp run-up
in valuation, as the market was concerned over government’s
move to allocate higher capital to weaker banks.
Besides, a mild volatility erupted as today being the
last session of January expiry in the derivatives segment and
also ahead of a long weekend.
The BSE Sensex today fell over 111 points, or 0.31 per
cent, to close at 36,050.44; and the NSE Nifty concluded the
session with a loss of over 16 points, or 0.15 per cent, at
11,069.65.
On a weekly basis, it was eighth straight week of gains
for the markets. During the period, the 30-share Sensex added
538.86 points, or 1.51 per cent; while the broader Nifty
gathered 174.95 points, or 1.60 per cent.
Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial
Services, said, “With the bulk of recapitalisation funds going
to the banks in the PCA category, PSB heavy weights quickly
let go off the recent gains, putting pressure on market
sentiments. Nifty rollover which was the lowest in 5 months
until yesterday, quickly gathered pace putting a lid on upside
attempts…”
Among the Sensex constituents, SBI was in red, tumbling
the most by about 5 per cent a day after the government said
it will inject Rs 88,139 crore capital in 20 public sector
banks (PSBs) before March.
Other state-run lenders, Punjab National Bank and Bank of
Baroda also retreated by up to 7.07 per cent.
Overall sentiment was cautious as investors were on a
wait-and-watch mode ahead of the Union Budget to be unveiled
on February 1 and a long weekend as markets will remain shut
tomorrow on account of “Republic Day”.
Investors were concerned over surging global crude prices
which climbed to over three year highs to trade at USD 71 a
barrel too negatively impacted sentiments, traders said.
The Sensex after rising to 36,247.02 points in early
trade, turned negative and cracked the 36,000-mark to hit a
low of 35,823.35 as participants indulged in squaring-up
their positions in view of expiry amid profit-booking at
record levels.
However, it recovered part of lost grounds on short-
covering towards the fag-end and settled the day at 36,050.44,
still down by 111.20 points, or 0.31 per cent.
The gauge had gained 1,390.53 points in the previous six
record-setting sessions and closed at an all-time high of
36,161.64 points after scaling a new peak of 36,268.19 in
yesterday’s session.
The Nifty too remained in the negative terrain for the
better part of the session and touched a low of 11,009.20 and
finally closed 16.35 points, or 0.15 per cent, lower at
11,069.65 points. Intra-day, it hit a high of 11,095.60.
Traders also described today’s fall as a technical
correction as markets were in an “over-bought” position as
stock valuations were stretched, spurred by encouraging
quarterly earnings of some bluechip companies and unabated
foreign fund inflows.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought
shares worth a net Rs 776.42 crore, while domestic
institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs
193.87 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Among other laggards, Dr Reddy’s too felt the heat and
plunged 2.26 per cent to Rs 2,504 after the company today
posted a 38.51 per cent dip in consolidated net profit at Rs
302.7 crore for the third quarter ended December 31.
Weakness in other heavyweights like Adani Ports, Hero
MotoCorp, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, NTPC,
ONGC, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Yes
Bank, Wipro, HDFC Ltd, ITC, M&M and Asian Paint also played
the role.
In contrast, ICICI Bank, Coal India, Kotak Bank, Axis
Bank, L&T, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Hindustan
Unilever topped the gainers list by surging up to 1.60 per
cent and limited the fall to some extent.
Sectorally, the BSE PSU dropped (1.79 per cent) followed
by realty (1.52 per cent), auto (1.18 per cent), teck (1.13
per cent), IT index dropped 1.13 per cent, power (1.12 per
cent), consumer durables (0.95 per cent), healthcare (0.75 per
cent), FMCG (0.53 per cent), Infrastructure (0.37 per cent),
oil & gas (0.35 per cent) and bankex (0.11 per cent).
However, metal rose 0.84 per cent and capital goods 0.38
per cent.
The broader markets too faced selling presure as
investors locked-in gains at existing levels, pulling down the
midcap index 0.75 per cent and smallcap index 0.68 per cent.
In other Asian markets, Shanghai Composite Index fell
0.31 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.92 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei too shed 1.13 per cent.
In Europe, Germany’s Frankfurt DAX was down 0.14 per
cent, while Paris 40 was up 0.24 per cent in early trades.
London’s FTSE rose 0.09 per cent.
This is published unedited from the PTI feed.
