Sensex tanks 454 pts; Nifty holds 22,000; M&M crashes 5%, OMCs fall up to 6%

Indian equity markets saw another round of selling on Friday on the back of weak global cues. Hot inflation numbers weighed on the sentiments at Dalal Street, where the recovery remained short-lived and bears had an upper hand over the bulls. Cautious sentiments continued in the broader markets and traders avoided any unwarranted risk.

BSE Sensex tanked 453.85 points, or 0.62 per cent, to end the day at 72,643.43. NSE's Nifty ended at 22,023.35, dropped 123.30 points, or 0.56 per cent for the day. Broader market were  as the BSE midcap index shed more than half-a-per cent, while the BSE smallcap index added one-fourth 3.2 per cent. Fear gauge India VIX inched up marginally to 13.69-level.

The stock market witnessed another day of decline with a selling trend observed across all major sectors. Nifty50 formed a bearish candlestick stick pattern - the ‘Bearish Belt Hold’ on the weekly time frame. Its RSI stood at 64 on its weekly timeframe, suggesting that the Indian stock market might be nearing the overbought territory, said VLA Ambala Founder at Stock Market Today.

"Due to the current momentum, the Nifty might continue to decline in the next 2-4 days. With the Lok Sabha election drawing to a close, the sentiment of caution is also likely to prevail in the market. In addition, factors like the fresh restrictions, hyper focused scrutiny of SEBI small-mid caps funds, and cross-border unrest continue to increase the selling pressure in the market," she said.

On a sectoral front, only the Nifty metal and FMCG indices managed to end the day in green. Among the laggards, the Nifty oil & gas index dropped about 2 per cent, while the Nifty auto index tanked over 1.5 per cent. The Nifty pharma and healthcare indices also shed about a per cent each.

In the Nifty50 pack, Mahindra & Mahindra topped the laggards, falling 5 per cent, while Bharat Petroleum tumbled more than 4 per cent. Coal India was down 3 per cent, while Tata Motors declined 2.5 per cent. Among the gainers, UPL rose over 3 per cent, while Bharti Airtel and HDFC Life Insurance added over 1.5 per cent each.

Cautiousness towards mid & small caps continued to drag market sentiment, dampening the broader market. However, the moderation in global commodity prices and the upward revision of India's GDP for FY25 are poised to highlight robust domestic demand, potentially supporting a rebound, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

A total of 3,936 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 2,016 settled with cuts. 1,805 stocks ended the session with gains while 115 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 246 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 389 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

Domestic equities followed global cues as weak US and Asian markets fuelled extended profit-taking as investors sold auto, oil & gas, banking and power stocks. The recent subdued economic readings related to inflation and IIP numbers too didn't help either, which further aggravated the bearish mood during the week, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

In the broader markets, Hindustan Petroleum crashed over 6 per cent, while Indian Oil tanked over 5 per cent after price cuts. Apollo Tyres, Biocon and ITI shed 6 per cent each. Titagarh Wagons, Quick Heal Technologies and Kolte Patil Developers declined more than 5 per cent each.

Among the gainers, Relaxo Footwears surged 13 per cent, while Gujarat Pipavav Ports rose 12 per cent. South Indian Bank, Cochin Shipyard and Reliance Infrastructure advanced over 11 per cent each. SpiceJet and Cressanda Solutions hit upper circuits of 10 per cent each.