Sensex, Nifty End Marginally Lower As Energy, Auto Stocks Weigh On Markets

Indian benchmark indices ended marginally lower on Friday after a volatile trading session, as weakness in auto, metal and energy stocks offset gains in consumer durables and media shares.

The BSE Sensex declined 70.71 points, or 0.09%, to close at 78,009.25, while the Nifty 50 slipped 29.85 points, or 0.12%, to settle at 24,366.

Market breadth remained weak, with 2,244 stocks declining, 1,855 advancing and 174 remaining unchanged on the NSE.

Among the Nifty constituents, Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Wipro were the top gainers. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Jio Financial Services, ONGC, Hindalco and SBI ended as the biggest losers.

Sectoral Performance

Sectoral indices ended mixed. Auto, energy, FMCG, metal, pharma and realty indices declined between 0.3% and 1%, while consumer durables and media gained nearly 1% each.

The broader market also remained under pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 falling 0.53% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 0.69%.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee ended almost unchanged at 95.43 per US dollar, compared with the previous close of 95.44.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said the market continued to move sideways as investors awaited greater clarity on energy prices and global bond yields. He added that consumer durables and discretionary consumption stocks helped the market recover from the day's lows, supported by improving demand trends.

According to Nair, stronger-than-expected corporate earnings, stable rupee, moderating government bond yields and improving foreign institutional investor participation continue to support India's domestic macro environment and provide opportunities for selective stock picking.

Jateen Trivedi, Vice President - Research Analyst (Commodity and Currency) at LKP Securities, said the rupee traded with a weak bias during the week, declining around 0.25% to 95.44, although overall movement remained range-bound.

He attributed the pressure on the domestic currency to higher July inflation and elevated crude oil prices, which continue to increase import costs. However, a relatively weaker US dollar index, trading below the 100 mark, helped limit further downside. Trivedi expects the rupee to trade in the 95.10-95.80 range in the near term, with crude oil prices and the dollar index remaining the key drivers.