Markets snap four-day losing streak; RIL, ICICI Bank top gainers

Indian benchmark equity indices snapped four-day losing streak to close higher on Friday tracking gains in index heavyweights RIL, ICICI Bank and HDFC. Sensex settled 166 points or 0.32% at 52,484, while Nifty ended at 15,722 up 42 points or 0.27%.

“Amid lack of domestic triggers, main indices traded flattish and ended with minor gains, while broad market maintained its optimism driven by Mid & Small caps. Domestic banking stocks gained although RBI in its Financial Stability Report indicates that Gross NPA percentage could climb to a baseline of 9.8% by March 2022. The rapid increase of covid cases globally is having an effect on the international market. Also on the global front, bourses are closely awaiting the release of the US job data to take clues regarding the US Fed’s monetary policy stance,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Top gainer & losers on the Sensex

Sectoral strand

Nifty Pharma was the top sectoral gainer followed by the Nifty Realty and Nifty Bank. On the other hand, Nifty Metal was the top sectoral laggard, while Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank closed marginally lower. Volatility index India VIX cooled off nearly 6%.

Broader market

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap rose marginally by about 0.05% at 22,505, while the BSE Smallcap touched an all-time high of 25,589 before settling with gains of 1.01% at 25,567- outperformed benchmark indices.

The market breadth also remained strong as 1,134 shares advanced on the BSE, while 775 declined and 350 remained unchanged.