Markets continue losing streak for fourth session, Buying seen in IT stocks

New Delhi, Oct 1 (UNI) Indian Stock Markets on Thursday ended a highly volatile session with the benchmark indices ended lower. Markets continue to extend their losing streak for the fourth consecutive session.

At close, the Sensex was down 570.59 points or 0.79 percent at 71,909.70, and the Nifty was down 198.50 points or 0.88 percent at 22,421.95. Nifty Midcap index fell over 1 percent and Nifty Smallcap index losing nearly 1 percent. Multiple factors dragged the markets including depreciating rupee, elevated US Treasury yields, higher crude prices and sustained FII selling weighed on sentiment.

Buying was seen in IT stocks. Among the sectors, Information Technology index added 2 percent and Telecom index gained 0.5 percent. On the other hand, Auto, Media, FMCG, Infra, Metal, Consumer Durable and Realty down 2-3 percent, while Energy, Pharma, PSU Bank, Oil & Gas down more than 1 percent each.

Over 300 stocks touched 52-week low, including Escorts Kubota, PB Fintech, Gujarat Energy, Bharti Hexacom, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, JK Lakshmi Cement, Bikaji Foods, SJVN, TVS Holdings, DCM Shriram, Godawari Power, ABLBL, Jio Financial, Motherson SWI, India Cements, HUL, Ambuja Cements, P&G Hygiene and Aditya Birla Fashion, among others. On Nifty, the key losers included Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, while gainers were HDFC Life, SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Bank, Infosys and TCS.

Indian stock markets will remain shut on October 2 on account of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti. Among some of the individual performances, Kotak Mahindra Bank shares ended higher after the RBI approved the appointment of Anup Kumar Saha as the bank's new Managing Director and CEO while Highway Infrastructure gained more than 4%.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited said, "Indian equities had a difficult, holiday-shortened week which saw benchmarks slip below a key psychological level as a worsening global backdrop overwhelmed domestic support. With the crude prices surging, US Treasury yields neared two-decade highs on expectations of further Fed tightening, narrowing the India-US yield differential and weakening the rupee.

FIIs stepped up selling through the week, while steady DII buying absorbed much of the outflow, cushioning but not arresting the decline. Broader markets fell as much as frontline indices, while heavy IPO issuance drew liquidity away from listed equities." "Sectoral weakness was concentrated in rate- and commodity-sensitive segments, with consumer durables, PSU banks, realty and metals under pressure, while autos saw sharper selling following weak wholesale sales data. The IT was the sole gainer, benefiting from rupee depreciation."

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