Closing Bell: Nifty slips below 16,700, Sensex ends with marginal gains; IT, auto stocks outperform

Snapping a three-day losing streak, the domestic equity market managed to close in the green as profit booking hit market after strong opening on Thursday. After gaining by over 1.5 per cent in the early trade, headline indices Nifty50 and the Sensex settled with marginal gains as the former closed below16,700 and the latter added around 90 points.  

The 12-share Nifty Bank slipped in the red zone as the banking index ended over 30 points lower to close negative around 35, 200 

Among stocks, auto and IT stocks outperformed the market as Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech and TCS were among top gainers in an otherwise weak market. IndusInd Bank, Britannia, Tata Consumer, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, Ultra Tech Cement, RIL and PowerGrid were among top laggards.  

"The benchmark Nifty failed to give any decisive move as it remained within the previous day's range. On the daily chart, Nifty has formed an inside-day bar , suggesting indecisiveness. The daily RSI is in bearish crossover," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.  

The trend remains weak; at the lower end, support is seen at 16600, whereas resistance is visible at 16950-17000," the expert added.

Meanwhile, in the broader market, Nifty midcap ended marginally higher while small cap index declined more than half per cent. India Volatility Index shot up around 20-mark as profit taking pulled down the market in closing hours.  

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT, Metal and Auto gained between 0.3% to 2% as all other indices slipped deep in the red.