Sensex closes flat on weak global cues, Nifty settles below 7,850; ICICI Bank down over 1%

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed flat on Friday after ICICI Bank Q4 results disappointed markets amid weak global cues. The BSE Sensex closed 3.52 points up at 25,606.62, while NSE Nifty closed 2.55 points up at 7,849.80.

“Benchmark indices toed the flat line for most of the day, before succumbing to selling pressure. Both the Sensex and the Nifty hit a two week low in trade today on the heels of negative global cues. Global markets traded lower after a lack of further stimulus action by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) disappointed market participants. On the sectoral front, PSU banks, auto and IT stocks came under selling pressure while the likes of pharma and media eked out marginal gains,” Shreyash Devalkar, fund manager – Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund said.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low 25755.43 and 25424.03, respectively. The broader indices made a mixed closing; the BSE Mid cap index ended up by 0.22 per cent, while Small cap index declined by 0.05 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, the top gainers were Realty up by 1.18 per cent, Power up by 0.93 per cent, Metal up by 0.51 per cent, Oil & Gas up by 0.39 per cent and Bankex up by 0.33 per cent, while Consumer Durables were down by 0.97 per cent, TECK down by 0.62 per cent, IT down by 0.45 per cent, Capital Goods down by 0.24 per cent and Auto down by 0.21 per cent were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 1.94 per cent, Cipla up by 1.89 per cent, HDFC Bank up by 1.69 per cent, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.24 per cent and Adani Ports & Special up by 1.21 per cent. Bharti Airtel shares were down by 2.32 per cent, SBI down by 1.67 per cent, Reliance Industries down by 1.48 per cent, ICICI Bank down by 1.48 per cent and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.14 per cent were among the top losers.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low 7,889.05 and 7,788.70, respectively.

Among the top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.47 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.05 per cent, NTPC up by 1.96 per cent, Lupin up by 1.82 per cent and Cipla up by 1.75 per cent. HCL Tech down by 6.21 per cent, Idea Cellular down by 6.09 per cent, Bharti Airtel down by 2.31 per cent, Bank of Baroda down by 1.90 per cent and Bosch down by 1.79 per cent were the top losers.

Asian equity markets ended lower on Friday following the overnight sell-off on Wall Street. Oil prices slid in Asian deals after sharp overnight gains, and the yen continued its rise against the dollar, keeping investors cautious.

Chinese and Hong Kong shares fell as a spate of bond defaults as well as increasing volatility in the commodity market despite a government crackdown on speculation kept investors on edge ahead of the Labor Day holiday.

Japanese markets were closed for the Showa Day holiday after steep losses in the previous session amid the stronger yen stemming from disappointment that the Bank of Japan held off on further easing. Though, Amazon posted its biggest quarterly profit ever and a slew of other US companies also reported better-than-expected results after the US closing bell, helping to limit the downside across the region.