Market Continues To Be Sluggish; Sectoral Indices Weak

The Indian stock market lost its peak in the Thursday trading session due to profit booking occurred in the later session. The sectoral indices appeared in the red territory while some traded with marginal gains. However, the benchmark indices, Nifty and Sensex ended with gains. 

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index ended 0.24 per cent higher at 25,010 whereas the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex settled 126 points or 0.15 per cent higher at 81,867 levels on the closing bell. 

Nifty Moves

In the Nifty 50 index, 28 stocks advanced in the positive territory and 22 stocks ended in the red territory. 

Among the winners, Power Grid topped the index with 3.7 per cent gain followed by 3.49 per cent gain in Coal India. ONGC and Dr Reddy gained more than 2 per cent gains. 
 

Among the losers, Mahindra and Mahindra shredded 2.73 per cent, while Hero Motocorp fell 2.12 per cent. Tata Steel, SBI, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finserv lost more than 1 per cent. 

Analyst Note  

“Overnight gains in the US markets and ongoing optimism over the strong corporate earnings aided benchmark indices to scale fresh all-time highs. However, weak European market cues and mixed Asian indices tempered the domestic market gains at close,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities. 
 

Overall trading session was skewed with most of the broader and sectoral indices faltering amid profit-taking whereas metals, oil and gas and power stocks notched up gains, indicating that investors are now getting into cherry picking of stocks instead of mounting full-fledged bullish bets, he added. 
 

Sectoral Movement

In terms of sectoral performance, Nifty Bank and Financial Services remained flat, while PSU Banks ended in red. 

Auto, Realty, IT and Metal ended in the red territory, while FMCG and Pharma traded with marginal gains. 

The more domestically focussed indices, Mid-cap ended lower with 0.85 per cent loss, whereas Small-cap fell almost 1 per cent.