By Malvika Gurung

investing.com — Indian equity benchmark indices ended the session lower, extending losses to the third consecutive day on Friday, after swaying sideways in the entire session.

Fuel prices rising for the third day in the week indicated a higher inflation figure for the ongoing month, paired with prospects of an aggressive Fed interest rate hike, shifts in Chinese economic policy, and volatility in commodity prices due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, kept investors in a cautious mood in the domestic market.

IT and pharmaceutical stocks pulled the markets lower, while buyings across the realty sector provided support to the market on Friday.

Benchmark gauges slid 0.4% and lost 233.48 points or 0.41%, with gains in oil & gas shares lending braces to the domestic market.

In a note provided to Investing.com, the Co-Head of Research at Equitymaster, Rahul Shah said, “Stalemate over Ukraine and the absence of any big move by the US Fed, have kept the markets range-bound this past one week. I think the situation is likely to persist over the coming weeks as well unless something big happens geopolitically.”

See also  Florida Senate passes bill to end Disney self-government

Additionally, March quarter results could lead to pronounced movements on either side for individual stocks in cases where they come beyond expectations.

Overall, this is a period where the portfolio stays still even as individual stocks move back and forth, added Shah.

Geojit Financial Services stated that while Dalal Street is showing strong resilience, the outcome of the ongoing war and certainty in commodity prices will largely impact its performance going ahead.

On the sectoral front, most indices ended lower, with slumping the most. ended 0.33% lower.

26% of stocks listed on Nifty ended in green, led by Bajaj Auto (NS:) and Adani Ports(NS:), while Titan (NS:), Tech Mahindra (NS:) and Maruti Suzuki (NS:) were the top losers.


Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *