Watch | Markets@Moneycontrol: Last hour selling pressure weighs on indices

Moneycontrol News

After witnessing a strong pullback in the opening tick and in the hours to follow, benchmark indices erased all of the gains in the final hour of trade on Friday. Sensex and Nifty ended almost on a flat note.

The Sensex closed up 1.24 points at 31283.72, while the Nifty was up 19.65 points at 9788.60. The market breadth was positive as 1611 shares advanced against a decline of 899 shares, while 172 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps had a strong day of trade, while barring IT and FMCG, all sectoral indices ended flat to positive.

The stability in the market seen in last two sessions was just a consolidation after more than 4 percent correction. The correction is not over yet, experts feel. According to them, there could be 2-3 percent correction in near term.

"This could be bottom forming process and some sideways trade after recent sharp fall, but the market could drift lower further," Dipan Mehta, Member BSE said.

According to him, the market bottom could be seen after 2-3 percent correction.

He advises investors to increase exposure to equity on these dips, rebalance portfolio and be ready for next upsurge.

Top headlines:

In a tragic incident this morning, 22 people lost their lives and 37 were injured after a stampede was set off at the Elphinstone bridge in Mumbai.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the government and railway authorities are taking this incident very seriously and will do everything to rectify the problem.

Piyush Goyal has said that Indian Railways is working with ISRO to devise safety mechanisms for better and safer travel.