The Indian equity benchmark indices logged sharp losses in a highly volatile session Friday a day after recording the worst performance in six months. Financial, IT, and oil and gas stocks dragged the benchmarks as the market began the November futures and options cues.
The benchmarks fell for the second straight week with Sensex and Nifty recording the biggest weekly fall in eight months. Sensex and Nifty slipped 2 percent each with Nifty Bank down 3 percent for the week.
Among the 50 stocks on Nifty, UltraCement, Dr Reddy’s, Cipla, Shree Cement, Tata Steel led the gains, as each scrip rose over 1 to 2.5 percent. Leading the losses were NTPC, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T.
Among sectors on NSE, a strong rally was seen in PSU Bank stocks as the index rose over 1.5 percent. Nifty consumer durables, healthcare index, realty, pharma, metal, media, FMCG, and auto indices closed in the green. However, Nifty auto, IT, private bank, and oil and gas stocks indices closed in the red.
Globally, Asian shares were trading mixed and European stocks logged losses. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.32 percent. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3 percent, and Hong Kong’s lost over half a percent.
Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were trading lower as well, taking cues from mixed markets. Nasdaq and S&P Futures lost over half a percent after notching record highs in the session overnight. The pan-European STOXX 600 index declined half a percent as Apple and Amazon earnings disappointed investors.
Over in commodities, oil prices edged higher with US oil and Brent crude climbing 0.25 percent to $83.01 and $84.54, respectively.
(Edited by : Yashi Gupta)
