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Benchmark indices closed in the red for the third consecutive session as profit-booking continued. Market, which extended gains in the first half after opening on a positive note, gave up gains during closing hours, recording marginal losses. Only IT stocks managed to retain gains.
After climbing to as high as 52,875.92, the BSE Sensex surrendered all the gains and slipped to a low of 52,448.64 and closed near that level at 52,482.71, down 66.95 points or 0.13 per cent, over the previous day's close. The Nifty 50 closed at 15,721.50, down 26.95 points or 0.17 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 15,839.10 and a low of 15,708.75.
Breadth remains positive
The breadth of the market, however, continued to remain positive with 1,707 stocks advancing, 1,530 declining and 122 remaining unchanged on the BSE. As many as 495 securities hit the upper circuit and 287 the lower circuit; 461 hit their 52-week high while 22 touched a 52-week low.
Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities, said, “Domestic benchmark indices gave up gains towards the final session as continued profit booking in financials dragged markets. However, buying was visible in IT, Metals and Auto companies, while pharma broadly remained resilient. Further, RIL also aided market to arrest fall.”
“Notably, the market is in profit booking mode for the last couple of days, as the recent surge in crude prices and weakening INR weighed on sentiments,” said Modi.
Coal India, Reliance, Divi’s Lab, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Shree Cements, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, UPL and ICICI Bank were the top laggards.
Reliance Industries shares gained after the company sighed a strategic partnership with ADNOC for world-scale chemical projects at Ta’ziz in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi.
RIL closed 1.16 per cent higher on the NSE.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "Though the spread of the delta variant remained a concern in the Asian market, the domestic market took a breather as the market’s focus on declining domestic cases lifted its mood today. However, negative sentiments from global markets dropped investor’s risk appetite forcing the market to close flat. The global markets are eyeing the release of the US job data for June due this week, which is crucial for the US Fed’s monetary policy decision."
IT stocks shine
On the sectoral front, all indices except Nifty IT closed in the red, led by financials.
The Nifty IT index was up 0.63 per cent at closing.
Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were down 0.68 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively; Nifty Private Bank was down 0.61 per cent while Nifty PSU Bank was down 0.41 per cent.
Realty and FMCG stocks also remained under pressure with Nifty FMCG down 0.39 per cent and Nifty Realty down 0.43 per cent. Nifty Metal also erased gains and ended 0.20 lower.
Broader indices
Broader indices continued to outperform the benchmarks with smallcap stocks managing to retain gains through the day.
Nifty Midcap 50 ended flat, up 0.01 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.52 per cent at closing.
The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.03 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.56 per cent.
The volatility index, which earlier dipped below 13, rose 0.32 per cent to 13.05.
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