Except for PSU bank and consumer durables, all sectors end in red

MUMBAI: Domestic equities continued with its weakness on account of subdued global cues and hawkish commentary from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Nifty witnessed selling pressure for the second consecutive day to close with a loss of 115 points (-0.6 per cent) at 19,428, while Sensex fell 365.53 points (-0.56 per cent) to 65,322.65

Except for PSU bank and consumer durables, all other sectors ended in red, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"The results season is now coming to an end. Overall, the earnings have been in the expected lines. In the absence of any major trigger and uncertain global cues, we expect the market to consolidate in the range. Investors on Monday will react to India’s IIP data, which will be released later on Friday," he said.

The market would trade cautiously ahead of India’s inflation data to be released on Monday, which is expected to rise in July on account of high vegetable prices. On account of the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday, the market might remain lackluster, he added.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the domestic market continued to experience selling pressure, with banking stocks extending their decline in reaction to the RBI's liquidity absorption measures.

The escalating concerns about inflation further weighed down domestic market sentiments. Despite the US CPI coming in lower than expected and the UK GDP beating estimates, global sentiment remained unfavourable, he said.

Most of the sectoral indices were in the red while Nifty PSU Bank outperformed with gains of 1.25 pert cent, said Vaibhav Vidwani, Senior Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

HCL Technologies, Titan Company, Power Grid Corporation, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were the top gainers in the Nifty, while the losers were IndusInd Bank, NTPC, SBI Life Insurance, Divis Labs and UPL.