Market fails to hold record high; Indian rupee ends lower

The Indian market continued the record run in the truncated week ending April 12 but failed to hold on to the gains amid a rising US dollar, higher crude oil prices, and hot US inflation data which faded US Fed rate cut hopes in the early part of FY25.

In this week, the Nifty50 index hit a fresh all-time high of 22,775.7 on April 10 but closed flat at 22,519.40. However, the BSE Sensex also touched its record high level of 75,124.28 on April 9 but ended on flatline at 74,244.90.

The BSE Small-cap index ended with marginal losses. Gainers included Ramco System, Puravankara, Abans Holdings, Transformers and Rectifiers India, Dolat Algotech, Kolte-Patil Developers, HMA Agro Industries, Mangalam Cement, and HEG, while losers were Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, Shiva Cement, Nitta Gelatin India, Centrum Capital, Jubilant Industries, Filatex India, Imagicaaworld Entertainment, Great Eastern Shipping Company, EKI Energy Services, and Spencer Retail.

BSE Mid-cap Index ended with no change. Losers included Union Bank of India, REC, Oracle Financial Services Software, New India Assurance Company, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, and Supreme Industries, while gainers were Exide Industries, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Petronet LNG, NMDC, Max Healthcare Institute, and Aarti Industries.

The BSE Large-cap Index ended on a flat note. Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta, Eicher Motors, FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa), GAIL India, The Tata Power Company, Interglobe Aviation, and Info Edge India added 5-27 percent. On the other hand, losers included Bandhan Bank, Varun Beverages, One 97 Communications (Paytm), Adani Power, Zydus Lifesciences, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) increased their selling in this week as they sold equities worth of Rs 6,526.71 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought equities worth Rs 12,232.61 crore.

Among sectors, Nifty Pharma index down 2 percent, Nifty PSU Bank, and Media indices shed 1.5 percent each. However, Nifty Metal index was up 3 percent, Nifty Realty index added 1.5 percent, while Nifty Auto index rose 1 percent.

In terms of the market value, Bharti Airtel added the most, followed by ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, and Tata Consultancy Services. On the other hand, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, and Titan Company lost the most of their market-cap. (Disclaimer: MoneyControl is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.)

The Indian rupee erased previous week gains and ended lower against the US dollar. The domestic currency fell 14 paise and ended at 83.42 on April 12 against its April 5 closing of 83.28.