BSE Sensex fell as much as 0.4% on Friday and were headed for their first weekly fall in six as investors booked profits after a rally that lifted the benchmark indexes to near two-year highs in the previous session. The fall in Indian stocks was in line with their Asian peers as expectations of a US interest rate hike weighed on sentiment. “The decline in the indexes is not surprising. It was expected that some profit-booking would take place and that is what we’re seeing now,” said Gaurang Shah, vice president, Geojit Financial Services.
“Some caution can also be expected ahead of the state election results,” he said. Results of five state elections, including the key state of Uttar Pradesh, are expected at the end of next week. Both indexes—Sensex and Nifty—touched their highest since March 2015 in the previous session. They were set to snap a five-week gaining streak, with NSE down 0.7% for the week and BSE losing 0.4%. Financials were down, with the Nifty Financial Services index falling as much as 1%. Bajaj Finserv and Housing Development Finance Corp fell more than 2%.
The Nifty Auto index declined after rising in the last two sessions. Bajaj Auto was down 0.6% after gaining as much as 2.3% in the previous two sessions. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd fell as much as 5.3% after a unit of Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah launched a block deal to sell $160 million worth of shares in the company. Among the gainers, Hindalco Industries Ltd rose after the company said it would raise $500 million in a share offering to repay its debt.
Reliance Industries rose as much as 4.1% to its highest since May 2008 underpinned by hopes over its telecom unit, Jio, with CLSA citing optimistic assessment provided by the company at an analyst meeting.
1.40pm: BSE Sensex trades lower by 90 points, or 0.31%, to 28,750, while the Nifty 50 falls 30 points, or 0.33%, to 8,870. Reliance Industries shares rise 2.42% to trade at Rs1263.05.
1.01pm: BSE Sensex trades lower by 113 points, or 0.39%, to 28,727, while the Nifty 50 falls 34 points, or 0.38%, to 8,866. Reliance Industries shares rise 2.64% to trade at Rs1,265.80.
12.04pm: BSE Sensex trades lower by 71 points, or 0.24%, to 28,769, while the Nifty 50 falls 32 points, or 0.36%, to 8,868. Reliance Limited shares rise as much as 4% after the company proposed to re-structure its shareholding by inter-se transfer of shares.
10.30am: BSE Sensex trades lower by 53 points, or 0.18%, to 28,787, while the Nifty 50 falls 22 points, or 0.24%, to 8,878.
9.32am: BSE Sensex trades lower by 12 points, or 0.04%, to 28,828, while the Nifty 50 falls 4 points, or 0.04%, to 8,896.
9.28 am: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) shares rise 3% to Rs1,269.50 after its promoter group entities proposed to re-structure their shareholding in RIL by inter-se transfer of shares.
9.25am: Infosys Ltd shares fall 1.8% to Rs1,002.75 after broking firm Goldman Sachs rated the stock with new sell.
9.20am: Raymond Ltd shares fall 3.6% to Rs585.45 after a Mumbai-based shareholder of the textile maker and retailer accused the company’s management of misusing company funds for personal benefits. In an open letter, Vishal Patel alleged that company spent more than Rs186 crore in “development” of a property in Bhulabhai Desai Road in South Mumbai in the last four years, Economic Times reported on Thursday.
9.15am: The rupee opened at 66.88 a dollar. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 66.89, down 0.26% from its previous close of 66.71.
9.10am: Hindalco Industries Ltd shares rise 2.4% to Rs194 after the company has embarked on a fundraising process to raise around approximately Rs3,300 crore through a qualified institutional placement.
9.00am: Asian currencies wakened. South Korean won was down 1.05%, Taiwan dollar 0.67%, Indonesian rupiah 0.27%, China renminbi 0.17%, Malaysian ringgit 0.16%, China offshore 0.12%, Singapore dollar 0.11%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.12%.
With inputs from Reuters
