Last hour sell-off pulls Sensex lower, metals banks down; Nifty loses 2% for week

The market failed to extend previous day’s gains due to sell-off in last hour of trade on Friday as the benchmark indices closed mildly lower despite positive Asian cues. Investors looked for GST Council meet that is scheduled to be held on Saturday and macro data due on Monday.

Indices traded higher for major part of the session following positive lead from Asian peers, with the Nifty moved closer to 10,300 levels, but the volatility and further selling pressure in banks & metals stocks in last hour of trade pushed the market lower.

Auto and pharma stocks also caught in bear trap; but the buying in technology stocks and index heavyweight HDFC capped losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 44.43 points at 33,307.14 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 15.80 points to 10,226.90. For the week, both indices lost more than 2 percent.

The midcaps underperformed benchmark indices, with the Nifty Midcap losing half a percent. The market breadth continued to be weak as about three shares declined for every two shares rising on the BSE.

On the global front, Asian markets closed higher after the US President Donald Trump had agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and following moderate gains seen on Wall Street following the implementation of US metals tariffs.

Hang Seng and Kospi gained a percent each. European stocks were slightly lower at the time of writing this article.

Back home, GST Council on Saturday will discuss the e-way bill and the simplification of tax returns by simplifying technicalities around tax rebates. Media reports indicated that the Council is also likely to consider inclusion of alcohol in the GST.

On the stocks front, Nifty Metal and PSU Bank were biggest losers among sectoral indices, shedding 1.8 percent each. Nifty Bank index shed 0.7 percent but IT index gained half a percent.

Tata Steel was the biggest loser among Nifty50 stocks, falling 4.6 percent followed by Vedanta and Hindalco that declined over a percent.

Majority of banks stocks were under pressure. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and Punjab National Bank were down between 1 percent and 7 percent. However, Central Bank of India outperformed, rising 11 percent.

Dr Reddy’s Labs declined 0.6 percent after its Medak unit in Hyderabad has received a Form 483 with five observations from the USFDA. Sun Pharma, Cipla and Lupin also slipped around a percent.

Bajaj Finance, HDFC, TCS, IOC, Tech Mahindra and Eicher Motors among others gained 1-2 percent.

In the broader space, GTL Infrastructure plunged 20 percent after the company said it would lose all 23,727 tenancies of client Aircel and hence total tenancies will fall sharply as client Aircel has filed for bankruptcy before the NCLT.

Kajaria Ceramics, PFC, REC, Delta Corp, Adani Transmission, Ashok Leyland, Oberoi Realty and NCL Industries rallied 1-6 percent. Reliance Communications, Adani Enterprises, SAIL and VIP Industries declined 4-10 percent.