Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally down on Thursday due to losses in oil and gas, metal and auto stocks as investors remained cautious amid surging Omicron cases.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 12.17 points or 0.02 per cent at 57,794.32 amid the monthly expiry of derivatives contracts. As many as 14 of its stocks declined while 16 advanced. The broader NSE Nifty edged down by 9.65 points or 0.06 per cent to 17,203.95 with 27 of its constituents closing in the red. Analysts said benchmark stock indices continued to trade in a narrow range on the back of thin volumes due to tepid investor activity ahead of the year-end.
Reliance Industries was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling nearly 2 per cent due to profit-booking by investors.
Tata Steel declined by 1.34 per cent, Maruti Suzuki by 0.82 per cent, and Bajaj Finance by 0.63 per cent. Sun Pharma, SBI, Nestle, M&M and UltraTech were among the losers.
On the other hand, NTPC rose by 3.13 per cent to emerge as the biggest gainer among Sensex peers. HCL Tech rose by 1.94 per cent, Titan by 1.85 per cent and IndusInd Bank by 1.74 per cent. Titan, Wipro and Dr Reddy's were also among the gainers.
"On a monthly expiry day, the markets had a rollercoaster ride. The start was weak amid a muted show of global peers due to concerns with regards to the rise in Omicron cases. Selling pressure in sectors such as metals, PSU banks and Oil & Gas impacted sentiments," Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services stated that domestic bourses witnessed a choppy session lifted by gains in IT and healthcare stocks on the day of the monthly F&O expiry. Globally, the markets were mixed as investors are weighing the consequences of a third wave amid surging inflation worldwide.
"Banking stocks, especially PSUs, were under pressure as RBI's financial stability report suggested a surge in bad loans with NPAs rising from 6.9 per cent in September 2021 to 8.1 per cent in September 2022 under the base case scenario," Nair commented.
In the larger market, the BSE Midcap Index declined by 0.22 per cent while the BSE SmallCap Index advanced by 0.19 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Energy dropped by 1.62 per cent, Oil &Gas by 1.43 per cent, BSE Metal by 1.15 per cent and BSE Realty by 0.99 per cent.
On the other hand, BSE IT advanced nearly 1 per cent followed by BSE Teck, Consumer Durables and Bankex.
“FIIs have sold equities worth almost USD 2.7 billion in December. This is the 3rd consecutive month wherein FIIs would be the net sellers. Overall, FIIs continue to be the net sellers for the entire year 2021,” Rahul Gupta, AVP-Derivative Sales, Institutional Equity, Emkay Global Financial Services, said.
Going forward two important things to watch out for in the market is the spread of the new variant Omicron and at the same time how the Fed policy panes out, he added.
“After a muted opening, the Nifty moved in a narrow range between 17,150 and 17,250. It made a couple of attempts to hold on to the higher terrain at 17,250 but slipped from the level due to a lack of follow-through buying interest,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.
