A 4 per cent slide in RIL blew away an early rally as Sensex closed modestly higher at 16,810, up 21 points. The index had risen 217 points at one stage, mirroring strong gains in global markets.
On the NSE, Nifty closed below 5K at 4,997, up just 8 points and much lower than its day’s high of 5,054.
The Sensex ended the week nearly 3 per cent lower as global cues and worries about valuations dragged Indian markets down despite good corporate earnings.
“The markets are not holding up despite good corporate results. Selling pressure is surfacing at higher levels,” said Ambareesh Baliga, VP, Karvy Stock Broking.
On the sectoral front, the BSE oil & gas index fell 2.7 per cent led by losses in RIL. RIL plunged 4 per cent to close at Rs 2,047 after Hardy Oil said it has not found any hydrocarbon in D9 block exploration well of KG basin. RIL owns 90 per cent interest in D9 block while Hardy oil has 10 per cent.
Gail also shed 4.3 per cent to end at Rs 362.
The capital goods index on the BSE slid 1.4 per cent. Punj Lloyd fell 3.5 per cent and L&T dropped 2.3 per cent.
FMCG, healthcare and IT stocks, however, rose today. The BSE FMCG index was up 3 per cent. Dabur India jumped 5.8 per cent and Godrej Consumer Products gained 2.4 per cent.
In the pharma space, Piramal Healthcare and Dr Reddy’s Labs jumped over 6 per cent each.
In the Sensex pack, RIL led the losers. Grasim, L&T and Tata Motors were the other main losers in the group. The stocks fell more than 2.3 per cent each.
ITC was the top gainer in the group. The stock surged nearly 5 per cent to Rs 259. The company today said its net profit was up at Rs 1010 crore in the Sepetember quarter from Rs 803 crore, on a year-on-year basis.
World stock markets rose on Friday, spurred by another batch of optimistic quarterly reports from major companies in the US and Asia even as worries remained that this year’s rally has overshot reality.
The broad advance followed an overnight rise on Wall Street, where investors were heartened by stronger profits and upbeat outlooks from companies seen as bellwethers of consumer demand in an economy emerging from recession.
The string of encouraging quarterly results continued in Asia, with South Korean auto maker Kia Motors Corp. and chip maker Hynix Semiconductor Inc reporting higher profits that suggested global demand was turning for the better.
Most of the European markets were firm in early trading while Dow Jones futures were modestly higher. Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 15.82, or 0.2 per cent, to 10,282.99 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 379.21, or 1.7 per cent, to 22,589.73. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.6 per cent to 1,640.17, while China's Shanghai index climbed 1.9 per cent.