In contrast to earlier gains, the Indian stock market closed lower for the sixth straight session today. The BSE Sensex fell 0.26% to 52,793.62, 850 points higher in the first session, while the NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.16% lower. The index fell for the fifth straight week, marking its longest weekly loss since 2020. The Sensex is down nearly 4,300 points so far this month.
Data released on Thursday showed India’s annual retail inflation rose higher than expected at 7.79% in April, staying above the central bank’s tolerance band of 6% for the fourth consecutive month.
SBI was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling 3.76 per cent, after the country’s largest lender reported a 41 per cent rise in Q4 standalone net profit. 9,114 crore but failed to meet analysts’ estimates.
Reliance Industries – India’s most valuable company – closed 1.1% higher to break a nine-day losing streak. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were the top losers on the Nifty 50, down 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively. State Bank of India ended down 3.9% after touching a two-month low on weaker-than-expected gains for the fourth quarter.
Foreign investors sold Indian equities worth $1.81 billion this week, compared to outflows of $635 million last week.
“The fact that Nifty remains under selling pressure during the day is disappointing as it has been a regular occurrence recently. 15671 is at near term low where Nifty can take support,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities
Nifty’s auto index closed up 2.4% with the biggest gainer in the Nifty sub-index. Tata Motors Ltd rose 8.6% after reporting a small quarterly loss late on Thursday.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices closed in the green with a firm footing, suggesting bottom fishing by local investors in the broader markets.
Technical Outlook
,nifty 50 It ended the week sharply negative and is now trading near the strong support level of 15,700 which coincides with the lower end of the sloping channel. Bank Nifty is also trading close to the rising trend line support formed from the March 2020 lows. Both Indian and major global indices are now at oversold levels. Hence, an immediate rebound in Nifty and Bank Nifty is highly possible. Based on the opening of Nifty next week, highly aggressive traders can initiate long trades with a tight stop loss below 15,700. Immediate resistance is now set at 16,600 level,” said Yash Shah, Head of Equity Research, Samco Securities.
Outlook for next week
“With the season of results reaching its climax, D-Street will be in sync with the global news flow. India’s WPI data will be released next week and the much awaited IPO, LIC, will be listed on the exchanges. Apart from these, no other big event is expected. In the absence of any positive catalyst, the indices are expected to remain under pressure as every bounce is leading to selloff. Investors are therefore urged to stay ashore as it is better to wait out the storm than to bottom fish during such turbulent phases.”