Metals, PSBs shine on a lacklustre day as Sensex ends 50 points lower

NEW DELHI: A weak opening in Europe dealt a blow to bulls on Dalal Street as benchmark indices wiped out morning gains, dragged by selling pressure in private bank and IT stocks. Metals and PSU banks saw some buying.

The market has turned volatile in the last few sessions and tried to consolidate after a nearly 13 per cent rally in headline indices. However, all dips are being bought, which gives confidence to bulls.

The 30-share pack Sensex dipped 49.96 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 52,104.13. The index moved in a range of more than 650 points during the day. Its broader peer NSE Nifty fell 1.25 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 15,313.45.

"The market, though volatile, kept its momentum during the morning hours, however, failing to hold on to it due to a weak opening of European markets. The downfall was aggravated by private banks, IT and FMCG stocks while mid and small caps continued their outperformance. Increased interest was seen in PSU Banks as the government shortlisted four banks for privatisation,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a glance

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• IPO watch: Nureca subscribed 11.54x, RailTel 1.85x so far
• Vodafone Idea continue to fall, ends lower by over 2%
• Hindalco surges 4% after JPMorgan says it may hit Rs 500 if things go right

Among the bluechip stocks, Power Grid was the top gainer, rising 6.26 per cent. ONGC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Indian Oil, Adani Ports and Coal India were other gainers.

ICICI Bank was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 2.34 per cent. Axis Bank, Eicher Motors, Nestle India, Tata Motors, Infosys, SBI, Divi’s Labs and TCS were others that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended with gains outperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap added 0.14 per cent and Nifty Midcap advanced 0.44 per cent. Nifty 500 -- the broadest index on NSE -- added 0.12 per cent.

Trent, Jindal Steel, Torrent Power, Deepak Nitrate, Timken India and Indiabulls Real Estate were top gainers from the mid- and small-cap indices, climbing in the range of 4-9 per cent.

Varun Beverages, Indian Hotels, Natco Pharma, India Energy Exchange, Just Dial and Engineers India were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 2-5 per cent.

The sectoral matrix on the NSE was mixed. Nifty Bank was the top gainer, up 3.32 per cent, followed by Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Financial Service. Nifty Metal was the top loser, down 0.47 per cent, Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma were others that ended in the red.

Market breadth was in favour of losers as 1,348 stocks ended in the green, while 1,628 counters settled with cuts. As many as 299 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 47 scrips hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 310 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 254 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading with gains at the last count. London-based FTSE was down 0.24 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt added 0.16 per cent and 0.07 per cent, respectively. In Asia, all markets that were not closed due to holidays ended in the green.