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Benchmark indices were listless on Friday afternoon even as metal stocks witnessed profit booking.
Market remained in the red despite positive global cues as investors remain cautious regarding the Covid-19 situation in the country. Many key States, including Maharashtra, have extended lockdowns.
At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was at 48,659.55, down 31.25 points or 0.06 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 48,898.93 and a low of 48,473.43. The Nifty 50 was ruling at 14,661.15, down 35.35 points or 0.24 per cent. It hit an intra-day high of 14,749.65 and a low of 14,591.90.
Retail sector hurt
“Markets have traded negatively after facing resistance at higher levels in the market. Traders have taken the cautious route in the market after a lot of agencies have revised their GDP growth target after the second wave in India,” as per CapitalVia Global Research.
“With the lockdown in various parts of the country continuing to extend, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) said it is becoming increasingly difficult for retailers to retain employees and keep their companies alive, and that capital is needed to inject into the industry. This has added to the negative sentiments in the domestic markets,” it added.
Asian Paints, UPL, ITC, Britannia and Nestle India were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Hindalco, Coal India, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Grasim were among the top laggards.
UPL recorded strong gains in an otherwise negative session on the back of strong Q4 results. The company’s consolidated profit grew 74 per cent year-on-year to ₹1,361 crore as per its March 2021 quarter earnings report.
It recorded a fresh 52-week high of ₹758 on the NSE.
Sectoral and broader indices
While metals dragged due to profit-booking, FMCG managed to retain gains. In fact, all sectoral indices except Nifty FMCG were in the red.
Nifty Metal was the biggest loser, plunging 3.37 per cent. Nifty Realty was down 2.63 per cent. Nifty IT was down while 1.36 per cent while Nifty Auto was down 1.65 per cent.
Meanwhile, Nifty FMCG was trading 1.98 per cent higher.
All broader indices were also in the red as mid-cap and small-cap stocks underperformed the benchmarks.
Nifty Midcap 50 was down 1.23 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.98 per cent
The S&P BSE Midcap index was down 0.70 per cent, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.91 per cent
As concerns remain, the volatility index rose 0.56 per cent to 20.19.
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