Sensex, Nifty end two-day gaining streak amid profit booking on weekly expiry day

Closing Bell: Indian frontline indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 ended their two day gaining streak on Thursday amid profit booking in most sectors. The markets traded in a narrow range on day of weekly expiry. While Sensex closed at 60,858.43, down by 187.31 points or 0.31 per cent while the broader market Nifty50 settled at 18,092.35, down 73 points or 0.40 per cent. Banking gauge Nifty Bank finished at 42,293.95, lower by 164.05 points or 0.39 per cent.

In the 50-stock Nifty50, 15 stocks advanced, 34 declined and 1 remained unchanged. The top gainers were Coal India, UPL, ONGC, BPCL and Tata Steel while top losers were Adani Enterprises, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Adani Ports. 

Out of 15 Nifty sectoral indices only two ended in the green - Nifty PSU Bank (+0.34 per cent) and Nifty Oil & Gas (+0.58 per cent) while the worst performers were Nifty Media, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty metal. Index heavyweights like Kotak Mahindra, Infosys, Asian Paints and Hindustan Unilever accounted for the correction. 

Source: NSE

Source:NSE

India VIX, a measure of volatility in Nifty was down 2.64 per cent at 13.99.

Selling pressure prevailed in broader markets as well. Nifty Mid Cap 100 ended at 31,344.60, down 34.70 points or 0.11 per cent. In the 100-share index, 44 advanced, 53 declined awile 3 remained unchanged. The top gainers were Persistent Systems, Polycab and Hindustan ZInc while the top losers were Torrent Power, Aditya Birla Faishon & Retail and Trent. Meanwhile, Nifty Small Cap 100 ended closed 47.25 points or 0.49 per cent lower at Rs 9,623.60. Only 26 stocks finshed with gains today with top gainers being KEI Industries, Zensar Technologies and DCM Shriramas.

The rupee settled 7 paise lower at 81.37 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 81.45 against the greenback, and finally settled at 81.37, down 7 paise over its previous close. During the session, the rupee also touched an intraday high of 81.27 against the American currency. In the previous session on Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 81.30 against the US dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.21 per cent lower at 102.14.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.94 per cent to USD 84.18 per barrel.

 "Rupee has been in a small range of 81.23 to 81.40 in today's session as RBI bot dollars to ensure that the appreciation  is not quick. However  sellers of $ seem to be in abundance/ volumes are low for any volatile movement," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury at Finrex Treasury  Advisors  LLP said. 

Brent oil was at 84.07 while $ index at 102.20 while Asian currencies were stable since morning.  Generally stock markets have been lower and so we're our Indices down by 0.30%. 

The premiums on $rupee have gone upto 2.37 per cent as India 10-year yield was also upto 7.33 per cent, Bhansali said. Meanwhile USD should move in a range  of 80.80 to 82.00 on Friday, the analyst opined.

On the commodity fron, gold and silver futures were trading positive at the time of filing the story. MCX February Gold futures were trading at Rs 56,310 per 10 gram, upby Rs 24 or 0.04 per cent from the Wednesday closing price while March Silver futures were trading at 67,882 per kg down by 345 or 0.51 per cent.

Gold futures have gained over 2.5 per cent or Rs 1,397 on the year-to-date basis, commodity and currency expert Anuj Gupta said. He suggests a buy on February Gold futures at Rs 56,100. He puts stop loss at Rs 55,800 while price target at Rs 56,600. Meanwhile Silver futures have declined by over 2 per cent or Rs 1,404 during this period, Gupta said. He recommends a buy at Rs 67,400 with a stop loss of Rs 66,700 and target of Rs 68,500.

(Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/advises expressed here in this article is solely by investment experts. Zee Business suggests its readers to consult with their investment advisers before making any financial decision.)