Black Friday: Sensex nosedives 983 points, Nifty gives up 14,650

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Sensex, Nifty saw massive sell-off on Friday giving up almost 50% weekly gains led by profit booking in financials, subdued global cues, worries on vaccine liberalization getting delayed due to shortage of vaccine at the same time COVID-19 cases continue to rise and are at record levels of around 4 lakh cases a day. At close, Sensex nosedived 983 points or 1.98% at 48,782 while the broader market index Nifty ends at 14,631 plummets 263 points or 1.77%.

25 out of 30 Sensex stocks ended in the red. ONGC, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, Bajaj Auto and PowerGrid gained up to 3.89%. While HDFC twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank & Asian Paints were the top laggards losing anywhere between 2.5-3.5%.

Over Rs 2 lakh crore of investor wealth wiped in a single day as massive selling was seen in all but the pharma sector. The Nifty Bank index lost the most tanking almost 3%, followed by Nifty Auto sinking 1.55%. Whereas the Nifty FMCG, Nifty Realty, Nifty IT, and Nifty Metal indices slipped in the range of 0.45-1.30%. On the contrary, the Nifty Pharma index rallied 1.1%.

According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities fell sharply on weak global cues and heavy sell-off in financial stocks. Asian markets traded weak on emerging concerns about growth after China’s factory activity expanded slower than expected in April.

“Persistent rise in daily caseload and higher number of deaths continue to remain a matter of concerns for central and state governments and therefore any possibility of further economic restrictions cannot be ruled out by the state governments. Market is expected to be volatile until we see a clear reversal in COVID-19 cases,” he said.

Market breadth was negative as 1,048 shares declined compared to 822 stocks advancing and 382 scrips remained unchanged. In the broader market, sell-off was a bit milder as the BSE MidCap index lost 0.65% while the BSE SmallCap index ended with marginal loss down 0.07%.

Benchmark indices ended the week with gains of 2%  and made investor richer by Rs 4.64 lakh crore.

Politics:

Exit polls on Thursday, 29 April 2021 forecast a tight contest between the incumbent Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the high-profile West Bengal assembly polls, while the ruling Left combine was projected to retain power in Kerala and so was the case for BJP in Assam. However, exit polls projected DMK-led opposition alliance as a winner in Tamil Nadu, while the Congress-led alliance was seen losing the neighbouring Puducherry. Votes will be counted on 2 May 2021.

Global Markets:

European shares traded higher while Asian stocks fell across the board on Friday as investors weighed the latest corporate earnings and economic growth data.

Data showed China’s factory activity expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in April as the official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 51.1, from 51.9 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 closed at record levels on Thursday after blowout earnings results from two of the biggest tech companies in the world: Apple and Facebook. Apple said that sales jumped 54% during the quarter, with each product category seeing double-digit growth. The company also said it would increase its dividend by 7%, and authorized $90 billion in share buybacks. Facebook’s revenue jumped 48%, driven by higher-priced ads.

Economic data released Thursday gave investors an update on the progress of the economic recovery. The first-quarter GDP hit an annualized rate of 6.4%.

(With inputs from agencies.)