By Siddhant Mishra
The Indian benchmarks ended their winning run on Friday, dragged down by auto stocks and weak global cues. The Sensex tanked 415.69 points or 0.66% to 62,868.50, while the Nifty slid 116.40 points or 0.62% to close at 18,696.10.
“In this week, the indices continued their positive momentum. After a promising uptrend, the Nifty ended 1.04% higher while the Sensex was up 570 points. Among sectors, almost all major sectoral indices outperformed, but Media and Reality gained the most, as they rallied over 4%. Technically, the index is consistently holding a higher high-higher low formation and it also formed a bullish candle on the weekly charts, which indicated a further uptrend.
However, momentum indicators suggested a strong possibility of profit-booking at higher levels,” said Amol Athawale, deputy vice-president (technical research), Kotak Securities.
M&M was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks, down 2.24%, with Maruti losing 1.58%. Consumer stocks also had a rough ride, with HUL falling 1.78%, and Nestle and ITC also closing the session in the red. Eicher was the biggest laggard in the Nifty pack, sliding 3.10%, while M&M lost 2.05%, and Hero, Maruti, Bajaj, and Tata Motors all closed in the red. Among consumer stocks, Tata Consumer was the biggest loser, down 2.23%, with HUL falling 1.61% and Nestle losing 1.47%.
“Domestic equities witnessed some pressure amid weak global cues, mixed November auto sales numbers, and investors’ cautious approach ahead of the release of US monthly jobs data. After rallying 4%, the market seems to have taken a pause and is likely to consolidate over the next few days. Next week, the markets will take cues from the RBI’s policy meeting will keenly watch the outcome of the Gujarat elections,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head – retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
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Global markets also felt the heat, ahead of the US jobs data, though reports of China scaling back on Covid measures lent a breather. Among Asian markets, the Hang Seng was down 0.33%, with the Nikkei falling 1.59%. The Shanghai Composite was 0.29%, while KOSPI fell 0.84%.
