Sensex, Nifty end flat after see-saw trade; RIL hits fresh peak

The Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower after a choppy session on Friday as profit-booking in financial stocks and a global equity selloff outweighed a rally in market behemoth Reliance Industries.

Siddhartha Singh
Published on: 24 July 2020 12:43 PM GMT
Sensex, Nifty end flat after see-saw trade; RIL hits fresh peak
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Sensex, Nifty end flat after see-saw trade; RIL hits fresh peak

Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower after a choppy session on Friday as profit-booking in financial stocks and a global equity selloff outweighed a rally in market behemoth Reliance Industries.

After gyrating 487 points during the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 11.57 points, or 0.03 per cent, lower at 38,128.90.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined 21.30 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 11,194.15.

Axis Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding 3.32 per cent, followed by SBI, ICICI Bank, ONGC, HDFC and Kotak Bank.

On the other hand, Reliance Industries' market valuation crossed the Rs 14 lakh crore-mark after its stock rallied over 4.15 per cent to scale its fresh peak.

HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and Infosys were among the other gainers, rising as much as 4.29 per cent.

During the week, the Sensex soared 1,108.76 points or 2.99 per cent, while the Nifty jumped 292.45 points or 2.68 per cent.

According to traders, despite the rally in index-heavyweight RIL, domestic markets turned volatile amid a selloff in global equities on escalating tensions between the US and China.

Earlier in the day, China ordered the US to close its consulate in Chengdu in retaliation to Washington's decision to shut the Chinese mission in Houston, further straining the already tense bilateral ties.

"In spite of negative global cues and profit booking in the beginning of trade, Indian indices overcame a negative start to finally end the day flat with a negative bias. Reliance Industries stock performance boosted the benchmark indices and helped limit further losses, while financials led the losses.

"The record virus infections in India have also unsettled investors, with its related delay in business and earnings recovery. Global markets were also affected on account of rising US-China tensions," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

BSE metal, bankex, realty, finance and telecom indices shed up to 2.11 per cent, while energy, IT and teck rallied as much as 2.90 per cent.

Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell up to 0.59 per cent.

Global markets succumbed to selling as rising US-China tensions soured risk appetite.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo plunged up to 3.86 per cent.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading over 1 per cent lower in early deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.09 per cent to USD 43.77 per barrel.

In the forex market, the rupee slipped 8 paise to close at 74.83 against the US dollar.

India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 COVID-19 cases, taking the country's tally to 12,87,945 on Friday, while the death toll crossed the 30,000-mark.

Globally, the number of cases linked to COVID-19 has crossed 1.54 crore, with more than 6.24 lakh fatalities.

(PTI)

Siddhartha Singh

Siddhartha Singh

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