Indian markets closed lower on Friday – dragged by financial, auto and IT stocks
Small- and mid-cap stocks declined as stress test results of mutual funds trickled in. Sensex declined 454 points to settle at 72,643. Nifty dropped 123 points to end at 22,023.
Gainers and losers
From the Sensex stocks, M&M, Tata Motors, NTPC and HCL Tech were the top laggards, falling 2-5%. On the other hand, only Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and TCS ended with gains.
Sector-wise performance
Nifty IT index declined 0.5% following a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation reading, which fuelled worries over the Federal Reserve’s future rate trajectory. IT companies earn a major share of their revenue from the U.S. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 fell 0.46%, while Nifty Smallcap100 surged 0.39%.
Stocks in news
Oil marketing companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation dropped between 4% and 6% after announcing reductions in petrol and diesel prices.
Paytm closed with a 5% upper circuit after the country’s payments authority granted the company a third-party application provider license.
Global markets and crude oil prices
MSCI’s global equity index was down 0.2% on Friday and flat for the week. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid more than 2%, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.9%.
Oil prices edged lower but were on track boosted by the International Energy Agency which raised its 2024 oil demand forecasts. Brent crude oil futures were at $84.83 a barrel at 1020 GMT while U.S. WTI crude were at $80.70.
Rupee
The Indian rupee closed lower tracking a fall in Asian peers, after U.S. bond yields surged in light of data that signaled that the inflation in the world’s largest economy could be sticky. The rupee closed at 82.8775 against the U.S. dollar.
