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Mumbai: Equity indices buckled under selling pressure for the second straight session on Friday as risk appetite remained subdued amid lacklustre global cues and lower-than-expected results from IT major TCS.
Banking, finance and IT counters accounted for most of the losses, while strong demand for metal stocks cushioned the fall.
The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 182.75 points or 0.35 per cent lower at 52,386.19. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 38.10 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 15,689.80.
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Bajaj Auto was the top laggard on the Sensex chart, shedding 1.99 per cent, followed by TCS which dropped 1.52 per cent post its results.
The country's largest IT firm had on Thursday reported a 28.5 per cent jump in June quarter net profit at Rs 9,008 crore, but called out the domestic business as a drag which restricted its overall growth.
HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the other losers.
On the other hand, Tata Steel led the gainers' list with a jump of 4.16 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Maruti and Bajaj Finance.
During the week, the Sensex declined 98.48 points or 0.18 per cent, while the Nifty dropped 32.40 points or 0.20 per cent.
Domestic equities traded on a weak note on Friday mainly led by continued profit-booking in financials, said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.
However, metals, pharma and realty indices shined, while IT index remained soft after TCS missed earnings estimates, he said, adding that buying momentum remained visible in midcap and smallcap stocks as improved earnings prospect attracted investors' interest.
"While visible improvement in business momentum with ease of business curbs by states started offering comfort, recent uptick in daily caseload and increasing positive rate could be a near term risk as we saw Japan imposing fresh restrictions in Tokyo," he noted.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "The domestic market continued to be under the grip of bears following weak Asian peers as investor confidence was shattered due to the global spread of Delta virus variant. The equity market is turning risk-averse and side-lined."
"The IT sector also turned bearish as the initial earnings results did not meet the expectations of the market....The focus of domestic investors has shifted from secondary to attractive primary IPOs, affecting the liquidity of trading in the equity market, which we believe to be short-term," he added.
Sectorally, BSE energy, bankex, oil and gas, IT and capital goods indices shed up to 0.71 per cent, while realty, metal, telecom, basic materials and healthcare climbed as much as 2.38 per cent.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap gauges outperformed the benchmark, closing up to 0.61 per cent higher.
World markets were little changed as investors assessed the impact of the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus on global economic recovery.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended in the red, while Hong Kong was positive.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 554.92 crore, as per exchange data.
Rupee Recovers 7 Paise To Close At 74.64 On Weak Dollar
The rupee gained 7 paise to end at 74.64 against the US currency on Friday, tracking weakness in the American currency in the overseas market.
However, a muted trend in domestic equity markets and surging crude prices restricted the gain in the domestic unit, forex dealers said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 74.68 per dollar. It hovered in a range of 74.57 to 74.68 during the session before ending at 74.64 against the greenback, a gain of 7 paise over its last close.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.71 against the US dollar.
On weekly basis, the rupee gained 10 paise to mark its first weekly gain in the past six weeks. The rupee had declined by more than 3 per cent or 229 paise in the five weeks to July 2.
"The Indian rupee has trimmed some of the recent losses and is seen finding a lot of cushion around the 74.90 mark, after the steep depreciation witnessed last week.
"The recent US Fed minutes of the last meeting were slightly less hawkish as compared to what the markets were expecting, which has led to softening of the greenback and is underpinning the local unit," Sugandha Sachdeva, Vice President - Commodity and Currency Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.09 per cent to 92.32.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, surged 0.98 per cent to USD 74.85 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 554.92 crore, as per exchange data
The USD/INR spot is not breaking the immediate resistance of 74.95-75 zone. For next week, the forex market focus will be on Zomato IPO and US CPI data along with fears over the global spread of delta variant," Rahul Gupta, Head Of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services, said.
Zomato IPO will open for subscription on Wednesday, and it may attract FII's participation. So, until the spot is trading below the resistance of 74.95-75, it will be slightly bearish. Only a break of 75 will push prices towards 75.25 zone, while 74.25-74 will act as strong supports, Gupta added.
Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities said that crude prices can provide some trend going ahead to USDINR provided OPEC+ comes out with decision else delays in production data will again weaken the rupee.
"Going ahead rupee can be seen in a range of 72.45-72.95"
"Indian rupee marked first weekly gains after falling for five weekly loss," Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.
Gold Tumbles Rs 451; Silver Tanks Rs 559
Gold in the national capital on Friday tumbled Rs 451 to Rs 46,844 per 10 gram reflecting an overnight decline in global precious metal prices and rupee appreciation, according to HDFC Securities.
In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 47,295 per 10 grams. Silver also tanked Rs 559 to Rs 67,465 per kilogram from Rs 68,024 per kilogram in the previous trade.
In the international market, gold was quoting marginally higher at USD 1,805 per ounce and silver was trading flat at USD 25.93 per ounce.
"Gold prices were firm with fall in US treasury yields," according to HDFC Securities, Senior Analyst (Commodities), Tapan Patel.
Navneet Damani, VP Commodities Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, "Gold prices are set for the third straight weekly gain, amid fall in US yields and a slight pullback in the dollar."
