Sensex Gains 250pts, Nifty Above 17,550; ZEEL Falls 3%

Sensex Today: Sensex extended losses to 6th session on Friday as growth concerns, amid fears of elevated interest rates, hurt sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 142 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 59,464, while the Nifty50 declined 45 points, or 0.26 per cent, to end at 17,466.

Adani Enterprises (down 5 per cent), Hindalco, JSW Steel, M&M, Tata Steel, SBI Life, L&T, Tata Motors, BPCL, HDFC Life, HDFC, and HDFC Bank were the top laggards. On the flipside, ONGC, Divis Labs, Asian Paints, Coal India, Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto, Power Grid, and NTPC eked out gains.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index dipped 0.17 per cent, and the BSE SmallCap index eased 0.15 per cent. Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index plunged 3 per cent, followed by the Nifty PSU Bank index (down 0.8 per cent).

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said: “The benchmark Nifty remained volatile on the last day of February’s F&O expiry. During the day, Nifty managed to hold above the morning low of 17455. Going ahead, the low of 17455 is likely to act as immediate support for the falling Nifty. A decisive fall below 17450 may trigger the resumption of the fall. In that case, it may fall down towards 17200–17150. However, failure to break down may induce a recovery towards 17750–17850, where the upper band of the falling channel lies.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The equity market traded cautiously between gains and losses as the minutes of the central bank policy meeting revealed concerns over high inflation and its commitment to bring inflation under control. In response to the heightened fears of rate hikes, the US 10 yr treasury yield continued to stay high, near 4%. Additionally, the dollar index rose as the greenback cheered over hawkish Fed comments and rising geopolitical tensions.”

Read all the Latest Business News here