Mumbai, August 14: The Indian stock market closed lower for the fourth consecutive trading session on Friday. By the end of the day, the Sensex fell by 70.71 points, or 0.09%, to settle at 78,009.25, while the Nifty dropped 29.85 points, or 0.12%, closing at 24,366.
Pharma and metal stocks exerted significant pressure on the market. The Nifty Pharma index declined by 0.90%, and the Nifty Metal index fell by 0.71%. Other sectors also faced losses, with Nifty Auto down 0.63%, Nifty PSU Bank down 0.57%, Nifty Commodities down 0.56%, Nifty PSE down 0.51%, Nifty Oil and Gas down 0.47%, and Nifty Healthcare down 0.46%.
Conversely, some sectors showed resilience, with Nifty Media up 0.96%, Nifty Consumer Durables up 0.76%, Nifty Infra up 0.28%, Nifty Services up 0.09%, and Nifty Consumption up 0.04%.
In the Sensex pack, gainers included Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Titan, M&M, HDFC Bank, and Eternal. Losers comprised Asian Paints, Indigo, NTPC, Power Grid, SBI, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Trent, ITC, Axis Bank, and TCS.
Both mid-cap and small-cap indices also experienced declines. The Nifty Midcap 100 index fell by 339.40 points, or 0.53%, closing at 63,782.15, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped by 136.55 points, or 0.69%, to end at 19,738.55.
Experts suggest that investors are awaiting clearer information on energy prices and global bond yield outlooks, which has kept the market within a limited range. However, due to improved demand, the market managed to recover from its lows, driven by consumer durables and discretionary consumption stocks.
They further noted that better-than-expected corporate results during the quarter and domestic factors are creating opportunities for a ‘bottom-up’ stock selection approach. Additionally, factors such as currency stability, a decrease in India’s 10-year bond yield, and a gradual improvement in FII participation are collectively supporting the domestic economy.
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