Sensex, Nifty end lower after choppy session

NEW DELHI: Vigour was absent from the market for the third straight day on Friday, as benchmark indices closed lower dragged by selling in some top auto and pharma stocks.

Throughout the session, indices traded in a small range before closing nearly flat. Select banks saw some low-level buying, providing support to the market. Though the volatility indicator remained high, reflecting big swings in the coming days.

The 30-share pack Sensex declined 59.04 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 57,832.97. Its broader peer NSE Nifty dropped 28.30 points or 0.16 per cent to 17,276.30.

“Reports that the US Secretary of State agreed to meet the Russian foreign minister to ease tension helped the domestic market to wipe-off early losses though sell-off was seen in late hours,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“As current global cues are forcing global equities to remain unstable, the domestic market is also expected to continue its volatile trend in the coming days.”

Market at a glance:

• Nxt Digital zoomed 9% as the board approved demerger swap ratio
• Ambuja Cements plunged 6% on disappointing Oct-Dec result
• Brightcom Group jumped 5% on announcing record date for bonus
• Mahindra Holidays fell 3% on plans to sell investments in Nreach Online
• Coal India added 3% as it made case for price hike

Among the bluechip names, Coal India was the biggest gainer, rising 2.61 per cent.

SBI Life Insurance, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, L&T, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dr Reddy’s Labs and TCS were other top gainers. ONGC was the top loser in the Nifty pack, falling 2.18 per cent. Divi’s Labs, Cipla, UltraTech Cement, M&M, Tata Motors, Shree Cement and Eicher Motors were other names that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended lower, underperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap fell 1.06 per cent and Nifty Midcap dropped 0.91 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended down 0.42 per cent.

Quess Corps, Edelweiss Financial Services, India Cements, Voltas, Varun Beverages and Gujarat Gas were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 1-9 per cent.

Dilip Buildcon, Suzlon Energy, Firstsource Solution, IndiaMart InterMesh, Astral and Daknia Bharat were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 3-6 per cent. Sectoral matrix on the NSE was mixed.

Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank ended the day with marginal gains while Nifty Realty, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Media were among top losers.


Market breadth was in favour of losers as 1,154 stocks ended in the green, while 2,201 names settled with cuts. As many as 114 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space.

Meanwhile, 40 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 250 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 330 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading mixed. London-based FTSE added 0.18 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt added 0.36 per cent and fell 0.06 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan fell while others ended in the green.