12 out of 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. 12 out of 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. 12 out of 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in Friday's deals after opening higher. The domestic indices slipped today dragged by automobile, consumer and energy stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 23 points or 0.04 per cent to trade at 61,408, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 21 points or 0.12 per cent lower to trade at 18,109. Mid- and small-cap shares were down as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.62 per cent and small-cap was down 0.64 per cent. On the global front, Asian shares were mostly up tracking the overnight rise in Wall Street.
Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying streak for the sixteenth session, adding Rs 970 crore worth of shares.
"FII buying is getting neutralised by domestic institutional investors selling. The 6 per cent rally in Nifty from the March lows has been used as a profit booking opportunity by DIIs and traders. This trend is evident from the 'sell on news' in major stocks like SBI and ITC in spite of good results. The sell-on rally strategy of the bears has been working this week. The near-term outlook is cloudy," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
12 out of 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Oil & Gas were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.61 per cent, 0.80 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.98 per cent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, UPL was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.05 per cent to trade at Rs 659.55. Also, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Hindalco and Britannia fell up to 1.62 per cent.
In contrast, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and PowerGrid surged up to 1.69 per cent.
The overall market breadth was weak as 1,517 shares were advancing while 1,971 were declining on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, ITC, Reliance Industries, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), L&T, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti and Titan were among the top gainers.
In addition, Gland Pharma and Gujarat Pipavav Port plunged up to 20 per cent.
On the flip side, G R Infraprojects, Ramco Cements, Swan Energy, KEC International, CreditAccess Gramin, Edelweiss Financial Services and Tata Investment jumped up to 6.03 per cent.
Sensex had slipped 129 points, or 0.21 per cent, to settle at Rs 61,432 on Thursday, while Nifty had declined 52 points, or 0.28 per cent, to close at 18,130.
Nifty and Nifty Bank outlooks
"Nifty currently has got the major support zone near 17,900 zone with 18,000 as the psychological level in between. The support for the day is seen at 18,000 levels while the resistance is seen at 18,300 levels," said Vaishali Parekh, Vice-President - Technical Research, Prabhudas Lilladher.
"Nifty Bank found resistance near the 44100 zone. A decisive breach below 43,300 zone shall weaken the bias and can anticipate for a further slide in the coming days with the next major support zone visible near 42,500 levels. Nifty Bank would have the daily range of 43,300-44,100 levels," Parekh stated.