Sensex dives 505 pts, Nifty settles below 18,300; Tata Motors up 4%; ideaForge ends at 93% premium over issue price

Domestic equity markets saw some profit booking on Friday as investors took some money off the table after the recent stellar rally. Selling pressure in industry heavyweights dragged the markets lower. ideaForge Technology made a stellar debut at Dalal Street and settled 93 per cent higher on the maiden trading session.

For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex dropped more than 505 points, or 0.77 per cent to end the day at 65,280.45, while NSE's Nifty50 plunged 165.50 points, or 0.85 per cent, to end the session at 19,331.80. BSE midcap index dropped about a per cent, while smallcap index settled slightly lower. Fear gauge India VIX dropped about 3 per cent to 11.53-level.

Markets edged higher after two days of pause and gained nearly half a percent. After the flat start, buying in select heavyweights tried to push the Nifty higher but profit taking at the higher levels capped the momentum. It finally managed to end closer to the day’s high at 19497.30 levels, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking

"The broad-based participation combined with favorable global cues would help in keeping the tone positive. We thus reiterate our view to focus more on stock selection and keep trailing stop losses on rise for existing longs. On the index front, Nifty has immediate support at 19,300 now and major at 18,900 levels," he said.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty FMCG index dropped 2 per cent, followed by Nifty private bank and realty indices, which settled over a per cent lower. Nifty IT, healthcare, pharma, metal and financial services indices were the other laggards. Among the gainers, the Nifty media index surged 4 per cent, while the Nifty PSU bank index gained about a per cent.

In the Nifty50 pack, only five shares managed to settle in green. Tata Motors gained about 4 per cent, while Tata Motors gained more than a per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI Life Insurance Company and Cipla also settled in green, while State Bank of India ended flat.

On the downside, Adani Ports and Power Grid tumbled 3 per cent each. Apollo Hospital Enterprises, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra and Britannia dropped 2 per cent each. Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Auto, Divis Laboratories and Asian Paints were the other laggards for the day.

Foreign investors continue to provide unwavering support to the domestic market, helping to sustain the ongoing rally despite weak global cues. India’s underperformance during the year is expected to reverse moving ahead, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"The mid- and small-cap segments have outperformed the benchmark index, with realty, oil & gas, power and consumption stocks leading the sectorial rally as provisional & economic data suggests a good Q1FY24 results. However, global markets are displaying a negative trend, influenced by hawkish FOMC minutes and US-China tensions," he said.

A total of 3,580 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 1,968 settled with cuts. 1,495 stocks ended the session with gains while 117 shares remained unchanged. A total of 13 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas only three shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

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