Sensex, Nifty continue to fall; Adani stocks shine, Hindustan Oil tanks 15%

Domestic equity markets ended the week on a dismal note as headline peers settled lower for another session on the back muted global cues. The renewed fears of interest rate hikes and concerns over the health of China and the US economy dented the market sentiments. Weaker rupee is increasing the pressure of FII selling at Dalal Street.

For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex dropped 202.36 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 64,948.66 and NSE's Nifty tanked 55.10 points, or 0.28 per cent, to end the day at 19,310.15. Broader markets performed in-line with the headline indices as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled lower. Fear gauge India VIX dropped about a per cent to 12.14-levels.

World equity markets, including India, are under the grip of a sharp rise in US bond yields which has led to currency depreciation in China and other emerging markets. This has prompted investors to park their funds in safe haven dollar securities by exiting risky equity assets, said Amol Athawale,  Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities.

"Technically, on daily charts, the Nifty is holding a lower top formation and on weekly charts it has formed a small bearish candle, which is largely negative. However, on the lower side it is consistently taking support near the 50-day SMA. A fresh sell off could be seen only after the dismissal of the 50-day SMA or 19,250, below which the index could slip till 19200-19100," he said.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty IT index dropped more than a per cent, while the Nifty realty, healthcare, consumer durables and pharma indices dropped about a per cent each. Among the gainers, the Nifty media index rose about a per cent, while the Nifty PSU bank, FMCG and metal indices managed to settle in green.

All ten Adani Group companies, namely Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, Adani Wilmar, Adani Power, ACC, Ambuja Cements and NDTV were trading higher on Friday. Thanks to the rally, the total market capitalization of Gautam Adani's listed empire raced past Rs 11 lakh crore mark for the first time since February this year.

In the Nifty50 pack, Hero MotoCorp and Tech Mahindra plunged more than 2 per cent, while Tata Consultancy Services, Hindalco Industries, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra and ONGC dropped up to 2 per cent each. Wipro, Sun Pharma, Bharat Petroleum, UPL and Power Grid were the other key losers for the day.

On the contrary, Adani Enterprises topped among the gainers and rose more than 4 per cent, while Adani Ports gained more than 3 per cent. Eicher Motors and Maruti Suzuki gained about a per cent each. Britannia, Axis Bank, Nestle India, Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever were among the key gainers for the day.

"Concerns regarding inflation and shifts in investor preferences towards safer assets dampened overall market sentiment for domestic equities. Fears of a Fed rate hike, coupled with a decline in global equities, exerted additional downward pressure, specifically on IT stocks," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

A total of 3,748 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 2,085 settled higher. 1,527 stocks ended the session with cuts while 136 shares remained unchanged. A total of 229 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 213 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

Benchmark Indices ended in the red today on the back of profit taking seen in IT stocks as well as PSU stocks. The deficiency in the Monsoon was an important factor with several states witnessing deficits across districts. The Evergrande Bankruptcy in China though was brushed away since real estate loans in India are by and large regulated well in India now, S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities.

In the broader markets, Hindustan Oil Exploration plunged about 15 per cent, while Neuland Laboratories plunged more than 9 per cent for the day. BF Investments, Vishal Fabrics and Wockhardt Pharma plunged 6 per cent each. Coffee Day Enterprises, PTC Industries and Man Infraconstructions plunged more than 5 per cent each.

Among the gainers, Gabriel India surged more than 10 per cent, while Krsnaa Diagnostics and Bhageria Industries gained over 9 per cent. Gokaldas Exports, Hemisphere Properties, Orient Cement and Adani Green Energy jumped 7 per cent each, while Lemon Tree Hotels, Adani Power and South Indian Bank gained 6 per cent each.

Also read: Hot stocks on August 18, 2023: Adani Power, Indian Bank, Adani Green Energy, PTC Industries and more

Also read: Share market today: Nifty, Sensex end in red; Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises top gainers; TCS, Hero MotoCorp top losers; Coal India, RIL, other stocks that buzzed in trade on August 18, 2023