PALAK SHAH Fears of the recent stock market rally having peaked out led to heavy selling by high net worth individuals (HNIs), retail and proprietory traders (brokers who maintain their own trading book) in India on Friday. This caused a decline of over 5 per cent in the Sensex and the Nifty from the high point of the day.

The Sensex was trading nearly 1,000 points higher at the start of Friday’s trading session but closed the day with a decline of 0.44 per cent or down 131 points at 29,815. The swing between the high and low points of the day for the index was more than 1,700 points. Similarly, the Nifty index gave up 500 points of its intra-day gains; it closed 0.22 per cent or 18 points, higher at 8,660.

Provisional data from BSE showed that the client category, which includes retail and HNIs, were net sellers of stocks worth ₹2,129 crore while prop book dealers stood to be net sellers to the tune of ₹143 crore. FIIs were net buyers of stocks worth ₹355.78 crore. DIIs bought stocks worth ₹1,703 crore.

It was the third day of the Covid-19-led lockdown across India. Market experts said traders are keeping their eyes on the rise in the number of virus cases and deaths, as they believe the markets would be shut down if cases spike up substantially. It is for this reason that most HNIs sold on Friday, they added.

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