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Sensex tanks 984 pts, ends at 48,782; financials crack; Nifty Pharma up 1%

On a weekly basis, both the frontline indices snapped their 3-week losing streak and added around 2 per cent higher each

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MARKET WRAP | Q4 Results | Reliance Industries

SI Reporter  | New Delhi 

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EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

MARKET LIVE: Sensex falls 1,000 pts, slips below 49K; Nifty gives up 14,650
Stock markets update: It was a freaky Friday for Dalal Street investors as bears came roaring amid weakness in Asian markets and unabated rise in Covid-19 cases along with hiccups in vaccination drive back home. Profit booking too weighed on markets following four straight sessions of gains that led to a 4 per cent rally in the benchmark indices. 

The headline indices eased 2 per cent today amid massive selling in all but pharma sector. The Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices took the sharpest knock and dropped 3 per cent each while the Nifty FMCG, Auto, IT, and Realty indices slipped up to 1.5 per cent. The Nifty Pharma index bucked the trend and settled 1 per cent higher.

In effect, NSE's 50-share index erased 264 points to close at 14,631 levels, dragged mainly by HDFC (down 4.2 per cent), HDFC Bank (4 per cent), ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints,  M&M, TCS, Tata Motors, and Adani Ports. The losses were, however, capped by gains in ONGC (4 per cent), Coal India, Divi's Labs, Grasim, and Indian Oil Corporation.   

On the BSE, the Sensex index nursed losses in 25 of the 30 constituents and ended at 48,782 levels, down 983.5 points.

On a weekly basis, both the frontline indices snapped their 3-week losing streak and added around 2 per cent each. 

SmallCap scrips, meanwhile, remained resilient in the weak market with stocks such as Uttam Sugar, Tata Metaliks,Jay Bharat Maruti, and Confidence Petroleum India rallying between 14 per cent and 16 per cent. At the index level, the S&P BSE SmallCap settled just 0.07 per cent lower.

The MidCap index, on the other hand, slipped 0.65 per cent.

Global markets
In Asia, MSCI's ex-Japan index lost 0.9 per cent, following a softer-than-expected survey of China’s manufacturing. Chinese tech giant shares listed in Hong Kong also buckled as Beijing summoned 13 internet platforms to order them to strengthen compliance with regulations, weighing on the Hang Seng index.

Mainland Chinese shares lost 0.8 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei also shed 0.8 per cent on position adjustments ahead of a long weekend. 

In Europe, on the contrary, stocks held near a record high and the euro was on course for its best month in nine as strong US data and corporate earnings plus the Federal Reserve’s commitment to support the economy fuelled investors’ appetite for risk.

MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks covering 50 markets dipped 0.1 per cent but remained close to a record peak touched the previous day, up 5 per cent on the month. In Europe, euro Stoxx futures were steady and Britain's FTSE 100 traded up 0.2 per cent.

US stock futures were down 0.3 per cent after the S&P 500 closed at an all-time high.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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