Shillong, August 25: In response to global market trends, Indian equities commenced the day on a downward trajectory, resulting in a fluctuating trading session on Friday.
The Nifty index concluded the day with a decline of 121 points, while the Sensex experienced a drop of 365 points.
As per IANS, the Nifty index displayed a gap-down opening and maintained a negative stance throughout the session. Ultimately, it closed with a loss of 121 points (-0.6%), resting at 19,265. Similarly, the Sensex recorded a fall of 365.83 points, settling at 64,886.51.
This marks the extension of a five-week losing streak for both the Nifty and Sensex. Over the past five weeks of correction, the Nifty has declined by approximately 2.43%, while the Sensex has experienced a decrease of around 2.7%, as highlighted by Omkar Kamtekar, a Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.
The broader market also witnessed a decline on Friday, suggesting a deeper underlying weakness in the overall market sentiment.
Across the board, all sectoral indices concluded the trading session in negative territory. Notably, the NIFTY PSU index exhibited the most substantial loss, declining by 1.51%. Following closely were the NIFTY Realty (-1.31%) and NIFTY Metal (-1.26%) indices, as pointed out by Kamtekar.
Breaking its losing streak, Jio Financial Services (JFS) managed to attain a minor gain of 0.49%. This gain was attributed to considerable volume-based buying at lower levels. Additionally, the removal of JFS from the Sensex has been postponed until September 1.
Among the noteworthy gainers were the Bajaj twins, namely Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv. Nomura’s initiation of a Buy call on Bajaj Finance, accompanied by a price target of Rs 8,700, contributed to their upward trajectory.
The top performers within the Nifty were Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, and Bajaj Finserv. Conversely, the most prominent losers included Dr. Reddy’s, Adani Ports, and JSW Steel.
In comparison to the Nifty, the Nifty Midcap Index underperformed significantly by falling 0.82% during Friday’s session. Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, noted that both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices experienced substantial profit booking, declining by 0.82% and 0.41%, respectively, upon closing.
As declining shares surpassed advancing shares, the advance-decline ratio on BSE stood at 0.69, marking its lowest point since August 2, according to Vakil.