Sensex, Nifty End Lower On Profit Booking; Small-Caps Outperform

Indian stock markets ended lower on Friday as investors booked profits after recent gains, with both benchmark indices — Sensex and Nifty — closing in the red in the week’s final trading session.

The Sensex dropped 200.15 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 82,330.59. It swung between 82,514.81 and 82,146.95 during the day. The Nifty slipped 42.30 points, or 0.17 per cent, to close at 25,019.80. It remained in a consolidation phase after Thursday’s strong rally.

Despite the dip in headline indices, the broader market showed strength. The Nifty Smallcap100 jumped 1.86 per cent. The Nifty Midcap100 rose 0.94 per cent, outpacing the large-cap indices.

Among Sensex stocks, Eternal (formerly Zomato), Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ITC, and IndusInd Bank led the gainers. Their shares rose between 0.60 per cent and 1.20 per cent.

In contrast, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, SBI, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra declined between 0.79 per cent and 2.76 per cent.

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Sectoral indices on the NSE closed mixed. Nifty IT, Metal, Pharma, and Healthcare slipped up to 0.84 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Realty was the top gainer, up 1.6 per cent.

India VIX, the volatility index, dropped 2.02 per cent to 16.55. This signalled a slight dip in market uncertainty.

Analysts said the market remained cautious. “Investors locked in profits at higher levels after a strong rally,” they noted.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee ended slightly higher at 85.51 against the US dollar, up from Thursday’s 85.54 close.

Dilip Parmar of HDFC Securities said the USD-INR pair may find support near 84.90 and face resistance around 85.94.

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