Sensex falls 260 points, Nifty settles below 18,700; Adani stocks fall up to 7%; Landmark Cars jumps 8%

Domestic equity markets continued to slip on Friday, extending their fall for the second straight session amid weak global cues. All-round selling pressure across all the major sectors and weakness in the global markets weighed on traders' sentiments.

For the day, BSE Sensex dropped 259.52 points, or 0.41 per cent, to settle at 62,979.37, while NSE's Nifty50 tumbled more than 105.75 points, or 0.56 per cent, to end the week at 18,665.50. Broader markets underperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices dropped over a per cent each. Fear gauge India VIX dropped about 3 per cent to 11.24-level.

The fall that started the Nifty attempted previous swing high yesterday was seen continuing in today's trading session. After a tepid start in spite of stable global markets, nifty continued to drift lower as the day progressed. Any rise in the Nifty was met with incremental pressure and the index kept making fresh swing lows on the intraday time frame, said Gaurav Bissa, VP, InCred Equities.

"The index has closed well below 18,700 but it has managed to stay above its 21-EMA on the daily charts which it has not broken since April. 18,630 is expected to act as immediate support which if held can lead to a small bounce till 18,800. The fall is expected to continue only below 18,630," he said.

Adani Group stocks were under pressure amid the report of regulatory scrutiny in the US. Adani Enterprises dropped more than 7 per cent, while Adani Power and Adani Transmission dropped over 6 per cent, each. Adani Ports tanked over 4 per cent and Adani Wilmar and Adani Green Energy shed over 3 per cent, each. Adani Total Gas settled down over a per cent.

On a sectoral front, only the Nifty pharma index settled lower. Among the losers, Nifty media and metal indices dropped more than 2 per cent, each, while Nifty consumer durables and oil & gas indices shed about 2 per cent, each. Nifty PSU bank and auto indices declined over a per cent, each.

Barring the Adani Group stocks, Bharat Petroleum dropped more than 3 per cent, leading the losers in the Nifty50 pack. Hindalco dropped 3 per cent each, while Divis Laboratories, Grasim Industries, ONGC and Tata Steel shed 2 per cent each. Tata Motors and HDFC Life were among the other laggards.

Among the gainers, IndusInd Bank gained 3 per cent, while Dr Reddy Laboratories and Asian Paints added 2 per cent each. Bharti Airtel and NPTC added a per cent each, while HDFC, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Auto were among the other key gainers for the day.

Global central banks are currently focused on addressing inflation and have reiterated their commitment to reaching their target levels, as evidenced by the hawkish commentary from Powell and the unexpected rate hike by the Bank of England, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"The downward revision of earnings guidance by a major US tech company Accenture has raised concerns about potential earnings downgrades in the Indian IT sector, resulting in pressure on IT stocks. However, the domestic market is not expected to experience a significant correction due to favourable domestic economic indicators and correction in international commodities prices," he said.

A total of 3,610 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 2,292 settled with declines. 1,172 stocks ended the session lower while 146 shares remained unchanged. A total of 129 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 137 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Vishwaraj Sugar Industries, Dish TV, Hindustan Construction Company, Ramkrishna Forgings, Bharat Dynamics, Adani Power and Alembic dropped more than 6 per cent, each. KPI Green Energy, Zensar Technologies and Piramal Energy shed 5 per cent, each.

Among the gainers, 63Moons Technologies hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent each, while Antony Waste Handling surged 19 per cent. Landmark Cars surged more than 8 per cent after a block deal by TPG global. Natco Pharma gained 8 per cent, while ICICI Securities and Parag Milk Food gained 7 per cent, each.

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