Top Sensex losers today: These banking stocks drag share market indices in morning trade

Outperforming the benchmark indices, Nifty Smallcap 100 and Smallcap 50 were seen trading with marginal gains on Friday morning.

Sensex and Nifty followed global peers as they slipped into the red on Friday morning. S&P BSE Sensex was down over 150 points while the 50-stock NSE Nifty gave up the crucial 11,200 mark. Equity markets did cut some of their losses in the initial hour of trade but did not manage to come out of the red. Asian stock markets were largely trading with losses on Friday as investors took cognizance of the renewed tensions between the United States of America and China. Reliance Industries Limited was one of the top gainers, hitting a fresh 52-week high as it breached the Rs 13 lakh crore mark in terms of market capitalization.

Worst performers: Among the worst-performing stocks on BSE Sensex were State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, and Axis Bank. 

Banking and finance drag indices: Banking and finance stocks were seen trading with losses on Friday morning. HDFC, SBI, and ICICI Bank were the top drags on Sensex. The sector has been under pressure and analysts believe will continue to feel the heat as they expect a spike in non-performing assets aided by the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown.

Top gainers: Sun Pharma was up over 3.5% followed by Reliance Industries as both the stocks battled it out to be crowned the top gainer on the BSE Sensex. They were followed by Infosys and Tech Mahindra. JK Cement, Muthoot Finance, and Laurus Labs were other gainers on BSE, hitting their 52-week high values.

Asian stock markets: Tensions have spiked between the USA and China. All Asian stock markets were trading with losses on Friday morning. Shanghai Composite was down 2.25% while Hang Seng slipped 1.83%. TOPIX and Nikkei 225 were also in the red. On Friday morning China ordered the United States to close its consulate in Chengdu, a retaliatory move for the shutdown in Houston.

Nifty Smallcap indices gain: Outperforming the benchmark indices, Nifty Smallcap 100 and Smallcap 50 were seen trading with marginal gains on Friday morning. Top gainers on the Smallcap 100 index were PNC Infra, Trident, and Welspun India. 

Technical view: “The market opened on a tepid note this morning. It could be a sign of mild exhaustion which could be due to profit booking. The support is at 11050 and till that holds, we are in bull territory. For an impulsive upside to resume, we would need to go past 11250 which will take us to 11400-11500,” said Manish Hathiramani, Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.