Equity benchmarks closed in the negative zone on Friday as auto, oil and gas and energy stocks came under pressure. While the BSE Sensex declined 453.85 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 72,643.43, the 50-share NSE Nifty ended 123.30 points, or 0.56 per cent, lower at 22,023.35.

For the week, the Nifty and the Sensex closed with losses of 2.1 per cent and 2 per cent respectively, while BSE Mid/SmallCap indices have underperformed the benchmark indices closing with losses of 4.0 per cent and 5.9 per cent, respectively.

In the broad market, BSE SmallCap gained 0.25 per cent and on the other hand, BSE MidCap lost 0.51 per cent and BSE 500 shed 0.47 per cent.

In a note, SBI Securities has said that AMFI-SEBI’s advisory related to stress test of mid-/small-cap equity schemes amid rising valuation concerns, and regulatory action against Dubai-based hawala operator, has led to sharp sell-off in small-cap stocks. Additionally, increased number of stocks under ASM/ESM coupled with likely higher margin requirement triggered accelerated sell-off in broader market during the week. 

Of the 3,936 stocks traded on BSE, 1,725 stocks advanced, 2,106 declined and 105 remained unchanged. While 74 stocks hit 52-week high, 58 stocks hit 52-week low.

INSTITUTIONS TURN MAJOR BUYERS

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹848.56 crore, show provisional data on exchanges.,

According to SBI Securities, FIIs and DIIs were both net buyers in the cash markets to the tune of ₹24,866.3 crore and ₹14,829.8 crore, respectively. This includes ₹17,000 crore worth of deal in ITC as BAT offloaded 3.5 per cent holding to clutch of marquee domestic and foreign investors .

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Oil & Gas was the major laggard with a decline of 2.24 per cent followed by BSE Energy (1.95 per cent), BSE Auto (1.74 per cent) and BSE Capital Goods (1.25 per cent). BSE Telecommunication (1.04 per cent), BSE Services (0.59 per cent), BSE Commodities (0.30 per cent) and BSE FMCG (0.02 per cent) closed the day in green.

TOP GAINERS, LOSERS

Within the Sensex pack, Mahindra and Mahindra’s stock value witnessed an erosion of 4.75 per cent, followed by Tata Motors (2.23 per cent), L&T (1.97 per cent), NTPC (1.94 per cent) and HCL Tech (1.91 per cent). On the other hand, Bharati Airtel gained 2.10 per cent followed by Bajaj Finance (1.89 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (0.71 per cent) and Bajaj Finserv (0.49 per cent).

‘EXPECT CONSOLIDATION’

According to Ajit Mishra, SVP-Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, indications are in favour of consolidation with negative bias until the Nifty decisively reclaims 22,250 levels.

“However, the pace of decline would remain gradual citing the resilience of select heavyweights across sectors. Traders should continue with stock-specific approach and maintain positions on both sides,” he added.

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