Market ends first week of 2024 with marginal losses; Realty index outperform

Indian benchmark indices finished the first week of the New Year with marginal losses amid volatility and despite hitting fresh record highs on the first session on the year 2024.

For the week, BSE Sensex shed 0.29 percent or 214.11 points to finish at 72,026.15, while Nifty50 fell 20.6 points to ends at 21,710.80. On January 1, the Sensex and Nifty touched fresh record highs of 72,561.91 and 21,834.35, respectively.

The BSE Small-cap index rose 2.6 percent and hit fresh record high of 43,957.62. Alok Industries, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Inox Green Energy Services, Waaree Renewable Technologies, Reliance Power, Sobha, Indo Amines, HPL Electric & Power, GTL Infrastructure, Oswal Greentech and Himadri Speciality Chemical added 25-52 percent. On the other hand, NLC India, KPR Mill, Thangamayil Jewellery, Vadilal Industries, Craftsman Automation, 360 ONE WAM, MSTC, Escorts Kubota and Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores declined 6-11 percent.

BSE Mid-cap Index climbed to new record high of 37,892.11 and added 2.3 percent supported by Biocon, Godrej Industries, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Godrej Properties, NHPC and Torrent Power. However, losers included 3M India, Steel Authority of India, CRISIL, Vedant Fashions and Nuvoco Vistas Corporation.

The BSE Large-cap Index touched fresh record high but ended flat for the week. Gainers included Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Indus Towers, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Total Gas, Godrej Consumer Products, One 97 Communications (Paytm) and Zomato, while losers were Eicher Motors, JSW Steel, Shree Cements, LTIMindtree, Avenue Supermarts and Mahindra and Mahindra.

In terms of the market value, Bajaj Finance added the most in terms of market value, followed by Reliance Industries, ITC and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and UltraTech Cement lost the most of their market-cap.

On the sectoral front, BSE Realty index added 8 percent, and Telecom, Healthcare, Power and Oil & Gas added 3 percent each., while Auto, Information Technology and Metal lost 1-2 percent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in this week, as they bought equities worth of Rs 3,290.23 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities worth Rs 7,296.50 crore.

Indian rupee reported marginal gains against the US dollar, as the domestic unit closed at 83.16 in the week ended January 5 against December 29 closing of 83.20.