Sensex ends flat, Nifty closes at 15,763; Bajaj Finance falls over 2%

The Sensex and Nifty closed modestly lower on Friday after investors offloaded banking, finance and metal stocks in the last hour of trade amid sluggish global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 66.23 points or 0.13 per cent to close at 52,586.84, while the broader NSE Nifty dipped 15.40 points or 0.10 per cent to 15,763.05.

The market remained range-bound for the most part of the session as investors kept their exposure lower due to weak global cues, traders said. The selling pressure was witnessed towards the fag-end when European markets opened in the negative zone, they added.

Bajaj Finance was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 2.59 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, SBI, Tata Steel, Titan, Asian Paints and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Sun Pharma topped the winners chart with a leap of 10.06 per cent after the drug major reported a net profit of Rs 1,444.17 crore for the June quarter, compared to a net loss of Rs 1,655.60 crore in the year-ago period.

Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, M&M and NTPC were among the other gainers, spurting up to 7.24 per cent. On a weekly basis, the Sensex fell 388.96 points or 0.73 per cent, while the Nifty shed 93 points or 0.58 per cent.

Taking support from pharma, fertilizer and auto stocks, the domestic market attempted to trade positively but failed to stick with the gains amid weak global trend. Eurozone inflation in July rose to 2.2 per cent YoY, above European Central Bank's target impacting the European market and the Chinese market was fragile too.

"Pharma stocks were back on action beating early worries of weak Q1 results as recent quarterly of major companies were in favour of market expectation. Fertilizer stocks were in focus today as Chinese firms were asked to suspend exports in order to ensure domestic supply," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Sector-wise, the BSE metal, energy, bankex, oil & gas and capital goods indices slumped as much as 1 per cent, while healthcare, utilities, auto and consumer durables notched up gains.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices climbed up to 0.69 per cent. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with significant losses. Equities in Europe were also trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.