Market falls 1.5% amid geopolitical tension; rupee hits record low

In yet another truncated week, market snapped a four-week gaining streak as it remained under pressure amid geopolitical tensions, which pushed crude prices above USD 90. However, smart recovery on the final day of the week helped Nifty to close above 22,100.

In this week, Nifty50 index shed 372.4 points or 1.65 percent to end at 22,147, while BSE Sensex fell 1,156.57 points or 1.55 percent to close at 73,088.33.

BSE Mid-cap Index slipped 2.2 percent dragged by Max Healthcare Institute, CRISIL, Oracle Financial Services Software, L&T Technology Services, TVS Motor Company, and Castrol India. However, gainers included Exide Industries, Linde India, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, and Samvardhana Motherson International.

The BSE Large-cap Index declined 1.7 percent dragged by Berger Paints India, Hindustan Zinc, ABB India, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, and Adani Green Energy, while gainers included Indus Towers, Bharti Airtel, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Maruti Suzuki India, Vedanta, and Hindustan Aeronautics.

The BSE Small-cap index fell 1 percent dragged by Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, TruCap Finance, Gensol Engineering, Inox Green Energy Services, COFORGE, Genesys International Corporation, IFCI, Jay Bharat Maruti, and Visaka Industries. On the other hand, Moschip Technologies, Solara Active Pharma Sciences, Dhani Services, Likhitha Infrastructure, MM Forgings, Manorama Industries, Savita Oil Technologies, Transformers and Rectifiers India, Gallantt Ispat, Waaree Renewable Technologies, and Elecon Engineering Company added 20-35 percent.

In terms of the market value, Tata Consultancy Services lost the most, followed by Infosys, ICICI Bank, and Larsen & Toubro. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki India, and HDFC Bank added the most of their market-cap.

All the sectoral indices ended in the red. Nifty Information Technology index shed 4.7 percent, Nifty PSU Bank fell 3.7 percent, Nifty Realty Index shed 2.7 percent, and Nifty Pharma index shed 2 percent.

The Indian rupee touched record low 83.57 during the week and ended marginally lower at 83.47 on April 19 against its April 12 closing 83.42.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth of Rs 11,867.03 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought equities worth Rs 9036.33 crore. However, in the month till now FIIs sold equities worth Rs 22,229.49 crore, while DIIs compensated by purchasing equities worth Rs 21,268.96 crore.