Bears sat firmly on the driving seats as Nifty came under selling pressure

The Bears sat firmly on the driving seat as the Nifty came under intense selling pressure on Friday on the back of a global risk-off trade across most asset classes. The rupee hit a fresh 2-year low, prompting some buy orders on pharma and IT stocks.

The Nifty lost 73 points, or 0.9 percent, to 8,299, its lowest since June 29. The index had a brief rally from intra-day lows in the latter half of the trading day but that was mainly on account of short covering. The Nifty is now below the hugely important 200-day moving average and is barely up on a year-to-date basis, surrendering all gains made since January. Nifty's Advance-Decline Ratio improved to 10/39 at close versus 2/48 in the morning as few brave investors made efforts to buy into the fear psychosis.

Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto, Vedanta, Zee and GAIL lost substantial ground in trade today, while Hindustan Unilever, Hindalco, Ambuja Cement and Cipla eked out modest gains. Yes Bank was the most active stock on the NSE with 659 crore rupees worth of shares changing hands. Infosys, Axis Bank and SBI saw heavy buying as well.

Overall, the Nifty lost 2.5 percent this week but is still up 0.3 percent so far in 2015.

The bears dominated the broader market as well. Major indices such as CNX 100, CNX 200, CNX 500, CNX Junior Nifty and CNX Mid Cap and CNX Small Cap Indexes closed with losses of 0.7-0.9 percent on Friday.

The sectorial space was bathed in red for a second day. The Bank Nifty plunged another 225 points to 18,057 as investors shied away from long positions. The CNX PSU Bank Index dropped a shade less than 1 percent, falling for the 3rd day. The trend was bearish in other indices too. The CNX Media, CNX Auto, CNX Energy, CNX Realty and CNX Finance lost between 0.8-2.1 percent today. Defensives were the only sectors that showed some green. Therefore, CNX IT, CNX FMCG and CNX Pharma Indices edged up in Friday's trade.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex fell 242 points, or 0.9 percent, to 27,366 points. Bajaj Auto, Vedanta, GAIL, Tata Motors and Bharti were the top losers on the Index while Hindalco and Hero Motors saw some traction. The Advance-Decline Ratio stood at 5/25.

Axis Bank was the top traded counter for the 2nd day with 71 crore rupees worth of shares changing hands on the BSE.

The wider market found itself in a tightening grip of the bears with the Advance-Decline numbers being extremely oversold. Today 1,944 stocks fell compared with just 705 that rose. The ratio was similar to yesterday.

The Bears ruled the roost in the futures and options space. The Nifty futures lost 90 points to close the week at 8,289 points. Jindal Steel, Ceat, Tata Comm and Amara Raja Batteries Futures were up smartly in trade while DLF, Just Dial, Kaveri Seed and Yes Bank lost footing in the derivatives space. Within the sectorial segment Auto, Media, Realty and Cement sectors slipped in trade. The Advance-Decline Ratio was at 48/113 in the futures and Options market.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)