Mumbai, April 22 Benchmark indices closed lower by over 1 per cent on Friday amid across the board selling.
Market opened on a negative note amid weak global cues after global equities tumbled following hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinting at a half-point rate hike possible next month in a bid to curb inflation. Indices closed lower, witnessing heavy selling during closing hours.
The BSE Sensex closed at 57,197.15, down 714.53 points or 1.23 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 57,689.86 and a low of 57,134.72. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,171.95, down 220.65 points or 1.27 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 17,315.30 and a low of 17,149.20.
Breadth favours decliners
The market breadth turned in favour of the decliners with 1,956 stocks declining on the BSE as against 1,451 that advanced while 124 remained unchanged. Furthermore, eight stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the four stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 178 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 15 touched a 52-week low.
The volatility index rose 2.80 per cent to 18.35 .
Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd said, “Markets reversed yesterday’s gain and shed nearly one and a half per cent following weak global cues. The hawkish statement from the US Fed dented sentiment globally including in our markets. The benchmark, after the gap down start, tried to recoup some of its losses in the middle but selling pressure in the latter half pushed the index to the day’s low.”
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities said, “Markets were weak during the week. Equity markets focused on ongoing 4QFY22 earnings prints and rising global and domestic bond yields. Markets continued to price in the increasing probability of aggressive rate hikes by the US Fed. “
“Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell affirmed the central bank’s determination to bring down inflation and said that aggressive rate hikes are possible as soon as next month. Powell’s statements essentially meet market expectations that the Fed will depart from its usual 25 basis point hikes and move more quickly to tame inflation that is running at its fastest pace in more than 40 years. Along with the rate hikes, the Fed is expected soon to start reducing the amount of bonds it is holding. The central bank’s balance sheet now stands at close to $9 trillion, primarily consisting of Treasury’s and mortgage-backed securities,” added Chouhan.
Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, ITC and Maruti were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Hindalco, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, Cipla and Dr Reddy were the top laggards.
All in red
On the sectoral front, all indices closed in the red. Financials, pharma, metals and realty recorded higher losses.
Nifty Bank and Nifty PSU down over 2 per cent each at closing. Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were each down nearly 2 per cent. Nifty Realty was down over 1 per cent.
Broader market under pressure
Broader market also faced pressure with broader indices closing in the red.
Nifty Midcap 50 was down 1.04 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.12 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.71 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.38 per cent.