Sensex, Nifty End Lower On Profit Booking In IT Shares, Bharti Airtel Falls Nearly 3%

Mumbai: Indian stock markets ended lower on Friday due to profit booking in IT stocks and Bharti Airtel. This came after a strong rally in the previous session.

The BSE Sensex dropped 200.15 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 82,330.59. During the day, it had gone down by as much as 383.79 points to touch 82,146.95. The NSE Nifty also fell by 42.30 points, or 0.17 per cent, and ended at 25,019.80.

Bharti Airtel shares declined by 2.81 per cent after Singtel sold around 1.2 per cent of its direct stake in the telecom firm. This stake sale, worth about USD 1.5 billion, is part of Singtel's plan to better manage its assets and improve returns for shareholders.

Besides Bharti Airtel, other major losers in the Sensex pack included HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, and Bajaj Finserv.

On the other hand, some companies like Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ITC, Tata Motors, NTPC, and Eicher Motors managed to gain during the day.

Among global markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225, China’s Shanghai Composite Index, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended lower. However, South Korea’s Kospi closed with gains. European markets were trading positively and US markets had ended mostly higher on Thursday.

Market expert Prashanth Tapse from Mehta Equities said that the market remained weak due to profit-taking in IT, banking, and metal stocks. But he added that gains in mid-cap and small-cap stocks show that investors still have hope in the market, even with global uncertainties.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, inched up 0.09 per cent to USD 64.59 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 5,392.94 crore on Thursday, showing strong interest in Indian equities.

On Thursday, the Sensex had jumped 1,200.18 points to reach a seven-month high of 82,530.74. The Nifty had also surged by 395.20 points to touch a seven-month high of 25,062.10.

(With agency inputs)