Sensex sinks 890 pts, Nifty below 17K; RateGain falls 7% on debut

Indian benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, ended sharply lower on Friday, tracking weakness across overseas markets as rising global inflation and worries about the fast spread of the Omicron variant weighed on investor sentiments. Reversing previous session gains, the BSE Sensex closed 889.4 points or 1.54% lower at 57,011, and the NSE Nifty ended below the psychological mark of 17,000, down 263.2 points or 1.53%.

In line with the benchmark indices, the broader markets also witnessed a bearish trend. The BSE Midcap ended at 24,542, down by 608 points or by 2.42%, while the BSE Smallcap index dropped 600 points or 2.07% to 28,455.

The overall market breadth on the BSE was negative, with 2,407 stocks declining against 1,157 advancing shares, while 120 remained unchanged.

Baring IT and Tech, all sectors end in red

The market witnessed broad-based selling with all major indices, baring IT and tech, ending in red, while rate-sensitive financial and realty declined the most.

The BSE Realty index was the worst performer with a 3.78% loss, led by Indiabulls Real Estate, Godrej Industries, Brigade Enterprises, DLF, and Sobha.

The realty index was followed by the BSE Bankex index, which ended at 2.62% lower. The top losers in the banking space were IndusInd Bank, Au Small Finance Bank, Federal Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Bandhan Bank.

On the flip side, the IT index emerged as the biggest gainer by rising 1.32%, led by index heavyweights Wipro and Infosys. The tech sector also ended with a 0.85% gain.

Top gainers and losers

The top loser on the BSE Sensex pack was private sector lender IndusInd Bank, which dropped 4.9%. The other top laggards included Kotak Mahindra Bank (-3.55%), Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (3.43%), Titan Company (-3.25%), Housing Development Finance Corporation (-3.08%), among others.

On the gaining side, IT bellwether Infosys topped the chart by rising 2.84%. The other notable gainers were HCL Technologies (0.96%), Power Grid Corporation of India (0.82%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (0.61%), Tata Consultancy Services (0.16%), among others.

RateGain dips nearly 7% on debut

Newly listed company RateGain Travel Technologies (RTTL) made a weak debut on the exchange, with the stock listing at 15% discount against the issue price. The shares of the travel technology company were listed at ₹360, against its offer price of ₹425 per share on the NSE. The stock debuted 14% lower at ₹364.80 apiece on the BSE.

The₹1,336 crore initial public offering (IPO) of RTTL received an overwhelming response from the investors, with the issue being subscribed 17.4 times. The quota for qualified institutional buyers was subscribed 8.42 times, while those of retail individual investors was subscribed 8.08 times. The non-institutional investors’ segment was subscribed 42.04 times, as per the NSE data.

Japan leads Asian market fall

Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Friday, following a negative finish at Wall Street in overnight trade. The market sentiment was dented after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday announced its decision to scale back its economic stimulus while maintaining its accommodative stance for small and midsize firms.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was the worst performer in the region with a 1.8% loss as investors reacted negatively to the central bank’s policy announcement. Following the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, the central bank announced a plan to taper its buying of commercial paper and corporate bonds issued by large firms. The apex bank, however, decided to continue its support to small and midsize firms until September.

China’s Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also ended with more than a 1% loss each.