Market at Close | Nifty, Sensex fall nearly 2% this week as IT, banking stocks drag markets

Benchmark equity indices ended lower on Friday (May 15), with the market snapping a two-week gaining streak as weakness in IT, banking, and broader markets weighed on sentiment, while the rupee crossed the 96 per US dollar mark for the first time intraday.

The Sensex fell 161 points to close at 75,238, while the Nifty declined 46 points to settle at 23,644, snapping a two-day gaining streak. The Nifty Bank index slipped 419 points to 53,710, and the Midcap index dropped 273 points to 60,567.

For the week, the benchmark indices fell nearly 2%.

Broader markets underperformed on Friday, with market breadth remaining in favour of declines. The NSE advance-decline ratio stood at 1:2. The Nifty Realty and Nifty IT indices emerged as the worst-performing sectoral indices for the week, declining 6-8%.

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All Nifty IT constituents ended lower during the week, with LTIMindtree Ltd falling 9%. The Nifty Bank index declined nearly 3% during the week, while IndusInd Bank Ltd dropped over 6%.

Among Nifty stocks, Titan Company Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, Shriram Finance Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd and Jio Financial Services Ltd emerged as the top losers for the week.

From the Sensex basket, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Coal India Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd were the major gainers.

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Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, UltraTech Cement Ltd, State Bank of India and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd were the biggest laggards.

In the midcap segment, Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd, Torrent Power Limited, Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited and Prestige Estates Projects Limited were among the top losers.

The rupee slid over ₹1.60 during the week and crossed the 96/$ mark for the first time intraday on Friday. The domestic currency touched a record low of 96.14 against the US dollar during the session before ending at a record closing low of 95.97/$ compared with Thursday’s close of 95.75/$.

Among individual stocks on Friday, Tata Motors Ltd rose over 5% after its Indian passenger vehicle business reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

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JSW Steel Ltd fell by over 1% despite reporting strong fourth-quarter results. United Spirits Ltd gained 4% after reporting quarterly earnings above estimates, with net profit rising 28% year-on-year. Voltas Ltd dropped 5% after reporting quarterly results below estimates, with the margin declining 250 basis points year-on-year.

Among midcaps, Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd, Muthoot Finance Ltd, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, NLC India Ltd, and Voltas Ltd were the top losers on Friday.