Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Dec.24: The Indian equity indexes dipped on Friday after three straight days of gains, led by losses in banking and auto sectors. The 30-stock BSE Sensex down 191 points, or 0.33 percent, to 57,124, while the wider NSE Nifty fell 69 points, or 0.40 percent, to 17,004. Both domestic indices were extremely volatile, as investors were put on edge by a global spike in the Omicron coronavirus type.
The Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 1.05 percent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.52 percent, indicating that mid- and small-cap stocks finished lower.
On a stock-by-stock basis, Grasim was the best. The Nifty was a laggard, falling 2.93 percent to 1,611. The losers included NTPC, Eicher Motors, ONGC, and Mahindra & Mahindra.
HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, SBI Life, Asian Paints, and Wipro, on the other hand, saw advances.
The National Stock Exchange’s 15 sector indices all ended the day in the red. The Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Auto indexes all fell by as much as 1.94 percent. Nifty IT, on the other hand, outpaced the index by 0.98 percent.
On the BSE, the total market breadth was negative, with 1,580 shares rising and 1,749 falling.
NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dr Reddy’s, and Bajaj Finserv were among the worst performers on the BSE, with their shares plunging as high as 2.73 percent.
Both indices had previously risen for three days in a row after falling as much as 3% on Monday.
Meanwhile, Data Patterns (India), a provider of defence solutions, achieved a solid launch on the stock exchanges. The stock was listed at a 48 percent premium.
