Equities settle low on continued fund outflows; Sensex slips over 400 pts (Ld)

New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Continued selling-off pressure by foreign institutional investors coupled with weakness in rupee subdued Indian equity indices on Friday.

Accordingly, Sensex settled 0.7 per cent or 427 points down at 59,037 points, whereas Nifty 0.8 per cent or 140 points down at 17,617 points.

“(Also), weak sentiments from global markets due to persistent inflationary worries and weaker-than-expected earnings added to the selling pressure,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“Along with global disturbances, the uncertainties regarding the upcoming Budget is likely to keep the domestic market highly volatile in the coming days,” he added.

Barring Nifty FMCG index, all the others traded in the red during the intraday trade. Nifty media, PSU bank, pharma, realty, consumer durables and metal declined the most, NSE data showed.

On the stocks front, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Shree Cement, Coal India and Divi’s Labs were the top five losers, declining 5.1 per cent, 4.6 per cent, 4.5 per cent, 3.7 per cent, and 3.3 per cent, respectively.

Bajaj Auto, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, and HDFC Bank were the top performers on Friday.

”Indices witnessed 4 per cent cut this week as FPI booked profits across large-caps and select high quality mid-caps. Rising oil and input prices coupled with a moderating rural economy kept investors watchful as markets turned volatile,” said S. Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities.

“Most of the sectoral indices except the FMCG index ended in the red on a big earnings day of Reliance, which helped indices recoup losses for the day in late afternoon trade.”

–IANS

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