Renewed Selling Snaps 3-Day Winning Run

Mumbai: Key benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slipped into negative territory on Friday after a three-day rally, dragged by intense selling pressure in IT, banking and financial stocks. Unabated foreign fund outflows and elevated crude prices in international markets also played spoilsport for the bourses. In a volatile session, the 30-share benchmark declined 423.49 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 76,619.33. During the day, it tumbled 779.53 points or 1 per cent to 76,263.29. Similarly, the NSE Nifty dropped 108.60 points or 0.47 per cent to 23,203.20. On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark tanked 759.58 points or 0.98 per cent, and the Nifty declined 228.3 points or 0.97 per cent.

“The markets remained volatile for yet another session, slipping half a per cent after three consecutive days of gains. Early weakness, driven by IT and banking heavyweights reacting to earnings, pulled the benchmark indices lower. However, resilience in key players like Reliance, ITC, and LT helped limit the decline. The ongoing tussle between bulls and bears reflects mixed market sentiment, with select heavyweights supporting recovery hopes on a rotational basis. However, persistent FII selling and a mixed start to the earnings season are restricting upward momentum,” said Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

The BSE midcap gauge went up by 0.04 per cent, and smallcap index eked out a marginal gain of 0.01 per cent. “Declines in the banking and IT sectors negatively impacted large caps, causing domestic markets to end lower following a volatile session. A cautious outlook on discretionary spending led to a decline in IT stocks, while private banking stocks declined due to expectations of subdued deposit and credit growth, as well as tighter liquidity conditions. We expect investors to adopt a risk-averse stance on the ongoing Q3 results,” Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.