Sensex ends 42 points down in lacklustre trade, Nifty settles below 7,900; SBI, Maruti surge

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended the choppy trade on a flat note on Friday with marginal losses on account of weak cues from global markets. Sensex closed 42.24 points down at 25,838.14, while Nifty settled 12.75 points down at 7,899.30.

In the 50-share index, State Bank of India (SBI), Maruti Suzuki, Bank of Baroda, NTPC and Axis Bank gained between 1.45 per cent and 3.05 per cent. On the other hand, HUL, Asian Paints, HDFC, Sun Pharma and Kotak Mahindra Bank slid between 1.20 per cent and 2.28 per cent.

Sectorwise, the BSE Auto index, BSE Bankex and BSE Oil & Gas index gained 0.87 per cent, 0.44 per cent and 0.36 per cent. The BSE FMCG index and BSE IT index slid 0.78 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively.

Traders failed to get any sense of relief with Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant’s statement that India needs to grow at 10 per cent to become 10 trillion dollar economy and eliminate poverty by 2032. He also said a growth rate of ten percent would also help in creation of 175 million jobs by 2032.

Depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. The rupee depreciated by 14 paise to trade at 66.53 against the US dollar at the time of equity markets closing due to fresh buying of the American currency by banks and importers. However, losses remained limited on hopes that the central bank would continue to cut interest rates in view of easing inflation and expectations of good monsoon rains. Some support also came with report that foreign investors bought a net $872.22 million worth of Indian shares so far this month, taking this year’s inflows to $1.41 billion.

Among day’s major market moving events, HDFC Bank reported a 20 per cent year-on-year rise in its net profits figures at Rs 3,374 crore for the quarte ended March 2016. Net Interest Income too increased by 24 per cent during the same time period. HDFC Bank shares closed 0.11 per cent up at Rs 1,092.30. IndusInd Bank too remained in action on Friday after the lender reported a 25.3 per cent hike in its Q4 profit although the higher provisions and NPAs were a matter of concern for the markets. Shares of Tata Steel rallied by almost 3 per cent intraday on the bourses after the market reports that UK government is ready to take as much as 25 per cent stake in Tata Steel’s UK business to support sale and offer hundreds of millions pounds in debt relief. Shares of NMDC corrected over 2 per cent on NSE following market reports that the government is looking to divest 10 per cent stake in the mining major through offer for sale (OFS) of shares.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Friday after US shares halted a three-day winning streak overnight on the back of disappointing earnings updates from some US companies. However, a rebound in oil prices in Asian deals helped limit losses across the region. Chinese shares closed a tad higher as gains in consumer and tech stocks outweighed losses in the resource sector. Japanese shares rose for the fourth day as the yen hit a two-week low against the dollar after reports that the Bank of Japan may expand its negative interest rate policy beyond its current applications at its upcoming policy meeting next week.