Indian equities closed near the day's low after a relentless session of selloff Thursday. The Sensex declined 150.72 points or 0.87% at 17,151 while the broader Nifty index declined 50.75 points to 5,188.40.
Two groups of stocks weighed on the index toady. Banking stocks (-1.74%) fell on RBI's new Basel III norms, which stipulate banks to set aside higher capital for regulatory requirements. Private lender ICICI Bank (-2.8%) and government backed State Bank of India (-2.6%) together contributed over 50 index points on the Sensex.
Other big banks - Axis (-4.1%), Bank of Baroda (-3.5%) and Punjab National Bank (-2.7%) - ended at the bottom of the Nifty 50 index.
Auto stocks (-2.4%) continued their losing streak for a second straight day. Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp (-7.6%) languished at the bottom of the Nifty index for the entire session. The Street was disappointed with the dividend payout the company announced yesterday. Maruti Suzuki (-3.2%), India's biggest car maker, also saw a sharp selloff.
IT stocks (0.7%), which have fallen substantially over the last few weeks, were the gainers today. Wipro (2.1%), which has corrected sharply since reporting Q4, was the top gainer among frontline IT stocks. TCS (1%) and Infosys (0.44%) also saw buying interest.
FMCG major HUL (2.3%), which reported a 21% jump in net in the March quarter Tuesday, was the top Nifty gainer.
Only 23% stocks managed to advance on the BSE 500 index, indicating weakness in the broader markets.
Asian markets closed with a negative bias though European stocks traded with gains. Global stocks had ended lower yesterday on account of weak jobs data in US and Europe.
Indian markets have been range bound for nearly two months now and analysts are divided whether markets would break down or break out of the range.
"The market is waiting for May 10 when the government announces its stand on GAAR... investors are waiting to see how that plays out," UR Bhat of Dalton Capital told NDTV Profit today.
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