Indian markets drifted lower for the fourth successive session led by losses in lenders. After a weak start, the benchmark indices tried to recovery but profit-taking in banking, auto, metal and healthcare majors gradually pushed the index southward. The NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.91% lower at 14,981.75, while the S&P BSE Sensex ended down 0.85% at 50,889.76.
Lenders State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank and ICIC Bank were the three biggest drags on the Nifty 50, falling between 3.5% to 3%.
Nifty’s private sector bank index, which has gained more than 14% in February, closed down 1.6%. State-run banks’ five-session rally came to an end on Friday, with the Nifty PSU banks index sliding 4.8% lower. Elsewhere, Reliance Industries Ltd ended 0.6% higher and was the top boost to the Nifty.
Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories reversed course in late afternoon trade to gain 1.73% after it sought emergency use authorization for Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in India.
Global markets have pulled back from recent record highs as rising bond yields and disappointing U.S. jobless data hurt investor confidence about a speedy economic recovery from the pandemic.
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Here is what analysts said on today’s market performance:
Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd
“Nifty has critical support at 14,800 and a decisive break may result in further fall else consolidation will continue. We reiterate our cautious stance and suggest focusing more on position management during the corrective phase. Further, volatility is likely to remain high across the board. Traders should align their positions accordingly and limit leveraged positions.”
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
“Nifty has corrected for four straight days after a sharp consistent rise seen over the past few weeks. The oscillators/indicators have now eased out of overbought region. A move above 15030-15060 early next week could take the Nifty 15240 over the next few days. On falls, 14753-14900 could act as a good support in the near term.”
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services
“Consolidation continued as increasing volatility & weak global cues influenced investors to stand on the sidelines, leading the market to close below 15k level. PSU banks and mid-cap stocks which outperformed the market during the week attracted selling pressure today. Sentiments across the globe were also wounded by increasing bond yield, higher commodity price and the disappointing US data”
Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
“Index closed a week on a negative note at 14982 with loss of more than one per cent and formed a bearish engulfing kind of candle pattern on weekly chart which represents trend reversal. As index managed to breached to its strong support of 15k mark which will acts as an immediate resistance now so above 15k mark we may see some relief otherwise we may see more downside levels of 14900-14750 on the other hand 15100-15170 will act as a strong hurdle on the higher side”
