BackSensex marks second consecutive weekly fall on geopolitical concerns
Sensex lost 1.02% to end at 25,329.14, while Nifty fell 1.06% to end at 7,568.55
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Mumbai: The BSE Sensex and the Nifty fell more than 1% on Friday, marking their third consecutive session of declines, as blue-chips such as Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) slumped on global risk aversion after US President Barack Obama authorised targeted air strikes in Iraq.
Global shares tumbled on Friday on rising worries of another drawn-out conflict in the region. The broader Nifty also closed below its 50-day moving average for the first time since 21 February, sparking worries of a further sell-off.
Also, a hawkish stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its monetary policy review on Tuesday coupled with sustained selling by overseas investors who are largely responsible for the indexes touching record highs in the previous month, also weighed.
Foreign investors sold shares worth $11.92 million on Thursday, provision exchange data shows, totalling sales of $321 million in July so far.
The falls on Friday sent the Nifty down 0.44%, for a second consecutive weekly fall.
“People will continue to book profits on reasons like global uncertainty, and valuations, but there wont be a sell-off," said G. Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics, a research and fund advisory firm.
The benchmark Sensex lost 1.02%, or 259.87 points, to end at 25,329.14, also falling 0.6% to mark its second straight weekly fall.
The Nifty fell 1.06%, or 80.70 points, to end at 7,568.55.
Blue-chips were among the leading decliners.
L&T lost 2.6% while HDFC Bank Ltd. fell 1.9%.
Among other blue-chips, Sesa Sterlite Ltd. ended down 5.9% while Axis Bank Ltd. lost 2.7%.
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) fell 0.9% and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC) ended 1.5% lower.
Tata Motors Ltd. fell 2.1% ahead of its April-June earnings on Monday.
Hindalco Industries Ltd. fell 2.7% after its unit Novelis Inc’s April-June operating profit lagged some estimates, analysts say.
Nestle India Ltd. fell 0.8% after April-June margins disappointed.
However, MM Forgings Ltd. jumped 13.7% adding to its 20% gain in the previous session after the company on Wednesday posted its highest ever quarterly revenue and profit in April-June. Reuters
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