Sensex today: Indian shares were muted on Friday, as investors remained cautious after a weak revenue outlook from HCLTech Ltd and ahead of the quarterly earnings of the country’s top firm by market capitalisation, Reliance Industries.
Among the frontline stocks, ITC and TCS logged strong gains even as auto, metal and realty stocks slid amid selling pressure.
ITC surpassed HDFC in terms of market capitalisation to become the 7th most valued firm in India. The stock gained 1.9 per cent at Rs 408.
TCS too moved up 1.8 per cent today. Among the other IT peers, Wipro and HCL Technologies also gained over a per cent each, while Infosys edged 0.3 per cent higher.
On the flip side, Tech Mahindra was the top loser among the Sensex 30 stocks, down over 2 per cent. The stock has shed 9 per cent in the last five trading sessions amid downgrades by Citi and JP Morgan.
Maurti Suzuki, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel declined 1-2 per cent each.
The S&P Sensex swung in a narrow band of 368 points before settling at 59,655, up 23 points. The NSE Nifty 50 ended almost unmoved at 17,624.
The broader markets ended with marginal losses. The BSE Midcap index was down 0.4 per cent, and the Smallcap 0.3 per cent.
Sectorally, the BSE Realty index cracked 2 per cent. The Auto and Metal indices slipped a per cent each. On the positive front, the FMCG index advanced 0.8 per cent, and the IT index added 0.6 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Mounting uncertainty in both global and domestic markets has kept Indian equities highly volatile. Weak signals of a softening job market and declining manufacturing activity in the US have raised fears of a possible recession. Despite the RBI MPC’s unanimous decision to pause rates, its minutes revealed that its members continue to hold concerns about high inflation. However, the market received some support towards the closing bell from the IT and FMCG sectors, facilitating its recovery.”
Global Cues
Asian stocks slid toward their worst week in a month-and-a-half on Friday and oil nursed losses, while bonds enjoyed their best bid in weeks as U.S. data and earnings showed signs of weakness. Overnight figures showed more Americans filing claims for jobless benefits and manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region slumping to its lowest level in nearly three years.
Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday, tracking falls on Wall Street, where auto sector woes pressured the market.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.24 percent, or 68.01 points, at 28,589.56 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.35 percent, or 7.11 points, to 2,032.62.
Major US stock indexes ended lower on Thursday after disappointing quarterly reports from companies including Tesla and AT&T, while investors sought clarity on the path of interest rates.
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