Markets skid for 3rd session, post biggest weekly losses in a month

The stock markets posted their biggest weekly losses in a month, as global sentiments continued to weigh. The benchmarks declined for the third straight session on Friday, with the Nifty falling by 28.4 points (0.24%) to close at 11,642.8 and the Sensex declining by 135.78 points (0.34%) to close at 39,614.07. The Nifty and Sensex were down by 2.4% and 2.6%, respectively, for the week.

The major losers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors, and Bajaj Finance, down by 4%, 3.08%, 2.52%, 2.43% and 2.37%. Significant gainers were Adani Ports and SEZ, BPCL, Coal India, NTPC, and Sun Pharmaceuticals, up by 4.46%, 3.51%, 3.43%, 2.14% and 2.1%.

Markets had been witnessing choppy trading sessions this week as the rising rate of Covid cases across developed economies in Europe and the US has made investors jittery about the pace of economic recovery. Furthermore, the US Presidential elections slated the next week are adding to the markets’ volatility.

Sanjeev Zarbade, vice-president – private client group research, Kotak Securities, said: “Market mood was wary on a steady increase in daily Covid-19 cases globally despite falling cases in India and uncertainty around the upcoming US elections. Even though second quarter corporate earnings numbers have been encouraging so far, markets are showing signs of weakness. Our advice would be to take advantage of a potential market correction to build a portfolio of good quality stocks.”

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who for a major part of October had been buyers, started selling in the last two trading sessions. On Wednesday, they pulled out $159.7 million. On Thursday, FPIs pulled out $56.8 million according to provisional data. They bought stocks worth $2.9 billion in October.

Asian markets closed in the red on Friday with bourses in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong declining between 0.92% and 1.95%. The markets in Germany and the UK were down by 0.2% each while France’s Cac 40 was up by 0.2%.

Deepak Jasani, head – retail research, HDFC Securities, said: “European shares erased declines after a string of positive earnings reports. Data released Friday showed rebounding growth in the third quarter for France. The eurozone’s second-biggest economy grew 18.2% following a revised 13.7% decline in the second quarter. Nifty is tagging the western markets directionally. Hence, sentiments need to stabilise in the US and Europe.”

The futures and options segment saw a turnover of Rs 12.67 lakh crore, according to NSE data, while the cash market saw volumes worth Rs 50,643.03 crore. These were against the six-month average of Rs 16.78 lakh crore and Rs 56,614 crore, respectively.