Sensex buckles under selling pressure in metal, realty and PSU bank stocks

• Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance were the top losers on Nifty50 followed by metal stocks like Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries.
• The 30-stock Sensex was down 0.69% to 57,527 points, while the 50-stock Nifty50 was down 0.77% to 16,945 points.
• All sectoral indices were in the red on Friday.

India’s equity markets closed the week on a negative note due to sell off in metal, realty, PSU bank shares and weak global cues. All sectoral indices turned the red on Friday.

Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance were the top losers on Nifty50 followed by Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries.

The 30-stock Sensex was down 0.69% to 57,527 points; while the Nifty50 was down 0.77% to 16,945 points.

The tax changes made in the proposed Finance Bill also soured investor sentiment. Investors in debt funds will now have to pay tax according to their income slabs.

Investors have so far benefited from indexation while calculating long-term capital gains from debt funds but this will now longer be available from 1 April, 2023.

"Cues from both the global and domestic markets were subdued. The asset management industry was hit hard by tax changes and the elimination of the indexation benefit of debt mutual funds,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

“The volatility was fuelled by weak European markets, which was driven by banking stocks as CDS spread increased. Although all major sectors traded in the red, selling in the IT sector was limited despite warnings of muted growth,” added Nair.

IT stocks began the day on a high note on Accenture’s positive commentary on demand outlook. However, during the end of the session most of them slipped into the red.

Accenture reported revenue of $15.81 billion in Q2, beating its guidance of $15.2-$15.75 billion. However, it also slightly lowered its FY23 revenue guidance to a range of 8-10 percent from 8-11 percent earlier.

Analysts at JM Financial said that the rise in IT stocks post Accenture’s mixed results is a relief rally post the correction in prices witnessed in the last one month.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty500
Source: NSE, as on March 24, 2023

Brent crude oil prices declined 3.16% on Friday to $73.47 per barrel. Gold prices climbed by over ₹800 to ₹59,591 per 10 grams.

On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold ₹1,720 crore while domestic institutional investors bought ₹2,555 crore.

Global markets mixed

Positive comments from US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen helped US markets climb, with Dow Jones rising 0.15% while S&P 500 gained 0.23%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.01%.

Markets in Asia, however, were largely in the red on Friday morning. The Hang Seng was down 0.67%, Shanghai Composite down 0.64%, KOSPI fell 0.39% while Nikkei 225 fell 0.13% and Taiwan Weighted was marginally up by 0.32%.


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