Markets skid for third straight day, post weekly fall

The Sensex declined 129.18 points, or 0.34%, to close at 37,606.89 while the Nifty was down by 28.7 points, or 0.26%, to close at 11,073.45.

Equity markets fell for the third straight day on Friday because of profit booking in heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) and weak global cues. The Sensex declined 129.18 points, or 0.34%, to close at 37,606.89 while the Nifty was down by 28.7 points, or 0.26%, to close at 11,073.45. Both the Sensex and Nifty fell more than by 1% on a weekly basis.

Sanjeev Zarbade, vice president — private client group research, Kotak Securities, said, “This week, the global markets were in a consolidation mode and a similar thing played out in India as well as reflected by the BSE-30 Index which declined 1.3% in the current week. Market mood remained cautious due to insufficient progress on the next round of US fiscal stimulus, worries about credit risks in Indian banks and valuation-related concerns.”

The US reported its sharpest-ever GDP contraction on Thursday. The country’s GDP contracted by 32.9% in annualised terms. This soured the Street sentiment and Asian shares witnessed a negative trading session, with the stock markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea declining by 0.47% to 0.7%.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained buyers for July with inflows at $1.1 billion in total. According to Friday’s provisional data, FPIs sold stocks worth $127.8 million.

The Futures and Options segment on the NSE saw a turnover worth Rs 11.37 lakh crore, against the six month-average of Rs 14.9 lakh crore.

Profit booking in RIL saw its shares declining by 1.84% to close at Rs 2,070. The biggest losers on the Nifty were Eicher Motors, RIL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and Kotak Mahindra Bank — down by 2.74%, 1.84%, 1.66%, 1.61%, and 1.43%, respectively. Major gainers included Sun Pharma, Cipla, Grasim, JSW Steel, and UPL, up by 5.46%, 5.11%, 4.98%, 2.85%, and 2.84%, respectively.