Sensex ends lower; banks, capital goods down

Mumbai: The Indian equities on Friday closed on a weak note. Banks, capital goods, power remained the major laggards on the bourses. Banking stocks tumbled further after a Reserve Bank of India committee recommended tightening regulations on loan restructuring, including setting aside higher provisions.

Refinery major Reliance closed down 0.70 per cent at Rs 722.65 ahead of its numbers on Friday. It is likely to post a 3 per cent sequential rise in profits, GRMs likely to be slightly higher than $7 per barrel.

In today's entire trading session, the NSE Nifty struggled at around 5,200 mark and closed above that level. Stocks like ITC, Reliance, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ONGC and SBI were the negative contributors to the bourses.

Banking stocks tumbled further after a RBI committee recommended tightening regulations on loan restructuring.

The Sensex was down 120.41 points or 0.70 per cent at 17158.44, and the Nifty was down 37.60 points or 0.72 per cent at 5205.10.

About 1151 shares advanced, 1633 shares declined, and 651 shares remained unchanged.

Technical analyst Sudarshan Sukhani, s2analytics.com sees Nifty stuck in a narrow range and its direction being unclear. "The Nifty's drift below 5,220 was the first sign that there is weakness but not enough to justify taking short positions," said Sukhani.

A buying opportunity would emerge only if the Nifty breaches 5,260-5,270, however, its levels on the downside still remain uncertain, Sukhani added.

Top losers on the Sensex were Dr Reddys Labs at Rs 1,611.20 down 2.68 per cent, BHEL at Rs 228.85 down 2.47 per cent, ICICI Bank at Rs 935 down 1.58 per cent, Cipla at Rs 327 down 1.52 per cent and Wipro at Rs 363.20 down 1.47 per cent.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,590.60 up 2.67 per cent, Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,144.55 up 2.43 per cent, TCS at Rs 1,223.05 up 1.86 per cent, Coal India at Rs 360.95 up 0.38 per cent and Tata Steel at Rs 415.80 up 0.28 per cent.

Most active shares on BSE were SBI, Maruti Suzuki, AdityaBirlaNuvo, Jubilant Food and DB Corp.

Top percentage losers on the BSE - Asian Star, Real Strips, PM Telelinnks, Rossell India and Rane Madras were down 10-30 per cent.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap - Tata Comm, Ipca Labs, Jagran Prakashan, Edelweiss Fin and Jaypee Infra were up 5-6 per cent.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap - Indiabulls, Rallis India, HT Media, Motilal Oswal and Greaves Cotton were down 3-5 per cent.

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