Sensex, Nifty Snap 3-Day Winning Streak; Reliance Falls On Profit Booking

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day winning streak on Thursday as investors booked profits in recent outperforming index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Larsen & Toubro as March futures and option contracts expired on the last day of current fiscal year. The benchmarks opened higher but succumbed to profit booking in last hour of trade. The Sensex fell as much as 405 points from day's high and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 17,435 after hitting an intraday high of 17,560.

The Sensex ended 115 points lower at 58,568 and Nifty 50 index slipped 33 points to close at 17,465.

For the financial year 2021-22, Sensex surged 18.3 per cent and Nifty 50 index climbed 19 per cent.

"Markets started on a buoyant note and gained nearly 2%, after taking a breather in yesterday’s session. Supportive global cues led to gap-up opening however caution ahead of the US Fed meeting outcome capped the movement as the day progressed. Meanwhile, strong participation from the broader markets kept the participants busy. Among the benchmark indices, the Nifty index inched closer to the 17,000 mark and finally settled at 16,975 levels," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Global markets sank Thursday after Chinese manufacturing weakened and Russian shelling around Ukraine’s capital shook hopes for progress in peace talks.

London, Shanghai, Paris and Tokyo declined while Frankfurt opened higher.

Oil fell almost $5 per barrel in New York but stayed above $100 following reports President Joe Biden would release U.S. reserves to cool surging prices amid anxiety about possible disruption to Russian supplies.

Back home, seven of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Healthcare index's 1.3 per cent decline. Nifty Pharma, PSU Bank, IT and Financial Services indices also edged lower.

On the other hand, FMCG, media, select private bank and real estate shares witnessed buying interest.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 0.34 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.7 per cent.

Hindalco was top Nifty loser, the stock fell nearly 5 per cent to close at Rs 571 after foreign brokerages JP Morgan and CLSA downgraded the stock after it announced $8 billion capex plan for next five years.

Divi's Labs, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Reddy's Labs, Reliance Industries, Eicher Motors, Wipro, UPL, HDFC Life, Cipla, Sun Pharma and Shree Cement also fell between 0.7-2.5 per cent.

On the flipside, Barti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports, ITC, Titan, TCS, Nestle India, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were among the gainers.

(With inputs from AP)