Sensex, Nifty50 post negative returns this week as autos drag – PSU banks surge

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 posted negative returns this week.
• With the Q2 FY23 earnings season now over, the focus of the markets has shifted towards domestic and global macro factors, say analysts.
• In the last five days Sensex went down marginally by 0.16% while still remaining above 61,000 level. At the same time, Nifty50 lost 0.42% but maintained its 18,300 level.

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 posted negative returns this week with the auto and metal sectors dragging the index down, while oil & gas, pharma and IT indices also closed in the red.

While Sensex ended 87 points lower at 61,663, Nifty50 closed 36 points lower at 18,308.

In the last five days Sensex went down marginally by 0.16% while still remaining above 61,000 level. At the same time, Nifty50 lost 0.42% but maintained its 18,300 level.

Most Asian markets also trended in the red on Friday with China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index losing 0.58%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 0.29% and Nikkei 225 down by 0.11%.

“Equity market in India posted negative returns this week, with majority of indices posting decline. With Q2FY23 earnings season behind, the market focus now completely shifts towards domestic and global macro factors,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

Meanwhile, most new age technology companies whose share prices have been volatile since last one week ended higher on Friday as several block deals took place. These include shares of PB Fintech (Policybazaar), FSN E-Commerce (Nykaa), and One97 Communications (Paytm).

Auto, financial services and pharmaceutical companies were among the biggest sectoral losers on the street with PSU banks among exceptional gainers.

“It has been a lackluster week for the market participants as the follow-up buying was clearly missing to uplift the market, and this resulted in a lull movement in the benchmark index. Global concerns over rising inflation have led to mixed action, mirroring which our market remained tentative at the higher levels,” said Osho Krishan, Sr. Analyst - Technical & Derivative Research, Angel One.

Overall, banking and financial services stocks were amongst the top five most active stocks on the markets, by value of trades.

Top gainers	Change	Top losers	Change
HCL Technologies	1.14%	M&M	-2.51%
Asian Paints	0.92%	Bajaj Auto	-1.79%
Hindustan Unilever	0.85%	NTPC	-1.66%
SBI	0.50%	Bajaj Finance	-1.60%
Infosys	0.44%	IndusInd Bank	-1.57%

Source: NSE

“Cyclical sectors came under selling pressure even as there was a feeling of fatigue among traders due to subdued volatility. Cues from the US Fed members hinting at continued rate hikes on Thursday pricked sentiments globally. Nifty could now find support at the 18044-18103 band while 18409 could act as a resistance in the near term," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.

Overall, foreign institutional investors (FII) withdrew ₹751 crore while domestic institutional investors (DII) invested ₹890 crore, according to provisional data from BSE.

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