New Delhi:
Indian stock benchmarks ended in the red on Friday as losses in auto and banking stocks offset gains in technology and index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL). Domestic indices plunged into the negative zone amid earnings postings during late deals, erasing all of their early gains. Stock benchmarks had turned positive yesterday, breaking a two-day losing run.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 49 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 55,769 today, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 44 points, or 0.26 percent, to settle at 16,584. Sensex brought in a band of 713 points in today’s session.
Mid and small cap stocks ended weak as Nifty Midcap 100 plunged 1.64 percent and small cap rose 0.86 percent.
13 of the 15 sector meters – compiled by the National Stock Exchange – were in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Auto, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Bank underperformed the platform by falling 1.82 percent, 1.47 percent and 0.95 percent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, Grasim Industries was the biggest loser as the stock cracked 6.53 percent to Rs 1,339. UltraTech Cement, Shree Cement, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti were also among those left behind.
Overall market size was negative: 1,379 shares rose while 1,954 fell on BSE.
On the 30-stock BSE index, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, NTPC, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Nestle India, SBI, ICICI Bank and Titan were among the biggest losers.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest insurer and the largest domestic financial investor, also fell 0.69 percent to settle at Rs 800.25.
By contrast, Reliance Industries, Infosys, L&T, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, TCS, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid and Dr Reddy’s finished in green.