Mumbai: Benchmark indices ended the week on a bearish note, as concerns over the weakness in rupee weighed on sentiment. Indices were volatile throughout Friday, peaking around noon and then retreating in towards the end of the session to close at 19429.23, down 90.26 points over the previous close, and 282.32 points down from the intra-day high of 19711.55.
The Nifty closed at 5881, down 40.40 points over the previous close after touching a high of intra-day high of 5972.70. Investors continued to take a defensive approach, buying shares of IT, pharma and FMCG companies. Banking, realty and auto shares were the key laggards.
For the week, the indices were down nearly 2 per cent. The rupee on Friday hit a one-year low of 57.12 to the dollar, stoking fears that FIIs may be tempted to sell equities to minimize currency-related losses.
FIIs have net sold close to Rs 4000 crore in the debt market in the first three trading sessions this month due to yields narrowing in anticipation of interest rates falling. Experts have warned that knee-jerk moves like curbing gold imports will not really help narrow current account deficit and ease pressure on rupee.
Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Thermax and Dr Reddy's Laboratories were the among the key gainers, up 3-4 per cent. Polaris led gainers in the IT sector, climbing over 8 per cent on talk that the company was close to finalising the sale of its IT services division.
Among losers, Adani Power topped the list of losers, shedding around 7 per cent. Spot electricity rates have fallen sharply as state electricity boards are refusing to buy power, unable to recover costs due to low tariffs and distribution losses.
Jain Irrigation, United Phosphorous, Canara Bank and Union Bank were the other key losers, shedding 4-5 per cent.
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