Sensex, Nifty slip as midcaps drag; Rupee hits record low

The stock market ended lower on Friday, with benchmark indexes snapping a two-day winning run as broad-based selling in metal, financial and midcap stocks weighed on sentiment, even as the market logged a second consecutive week of gains.

The Nifty 50 fell 124 points to 26,068, while the Sensex dropped 401 points to 85,232. Selling was sharper in the broader market, where the Midcap index lost 687 points to 60,276, extending its recent underperformance. The Nifty Bank also declined, slipping 480 points to 58,867.

A surge in the dollar and renewed foreign outflows pushed the rupee to a record low of 89.49 per US dollar, marking its steepest single-day fall in six months.

For the week, the Nifty, Sensex and Nifty Bank rose around 1% each, but the Midcap index fell 1%, reversing all early-week gains following Friday’s sharp drop. Analysts said the uptrend in benchmarks was supported by strength in IT stocks, while realty and metal shares were the biggest drags, falling 3-4%.

Friday’s session saw 30 Nifty constituents closing in the red, with Hindalco, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and HCLTech falling 2-3%. Metal stocks remained under pressure after reports of another fire incident at a Novelis plant weighed on Hindalco.

In contrast, auto stocks outperformed, with Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra rising 1% each. Groww ended higher but off intraday peaks after posting mixed quarterly results.

Among midcaps, sentiment weakened sharply. Bharti Hexacom, Tube Investments and Indian Bank slipped 3-4%, while Voda Idea, Supreme Industries, Bharat Dynamics and Tube Investments were among the week’s top midcap laggards. The market breadth skewed heavily negative, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 1:3.

Stocks in focus included IndusInd Bank, which rose 2% after the lender denied reports of a planned share sale, while GMR Airports gained around 1% after sources indicated the Airports Authority of India was planning a major airspace expansion by 2029. AWL Agri dropped over 3% after 6.6% equity changed hands in block deals, and Capillary Technologies gained 5% after managing to recover from a weak listing.

Despite hitting new 52-week highs earlier in the day, both Nifty and Sensex failed to sustain the momentum, closing well off the peaks as profit-taking emerged in metals, financials and midcaps.