Sensex slips 101 points, Nifty ends at 18,114; metal & IT cracks

Domestic benchmark equity indices continued their downtrend for the fourth consecutive session on concerns over rich market valuations and profit booking in index heavyweights like ITC, Maruti, Infosys and Tata Steel. At close, Sensex slipped 101 points or 0.17% to end at 60,821 while the Nifty 50 settled at 18,114 lower by 63 points or 0.35%. "Index closed a week at 18,114 with loss of more than one percent on weekly basis and formed a dark cloud cover candle pattern on weekly chart which is bearish reversal candle pattern by nature so if we slipped below 18k mark we may see short term reversal in index. The index has formed consecutive bearish candles throughout this week which hints bears are trying to grip the market from higher levels & which will be possible if we drag below the 18k mark in the coming week, immediate supports for nifty is coming near the 18k mark followed by 17950 zone if index managed to hold above 18k mark one can expect a swift pullback & resistance is coming near 18250-18350 zone," said Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

Gainers & losers

[caption id="attachment_91535" align="alignnone" width="795"] Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.[/caption]

Sectoral strand

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty Realty index stood tall with gains of 2.56%, while Nifty Bank continued its upward trend and scaled to a fresh high of 40,587 and ended the day at a record closing high of 40,323 advancing 0.73%. On the downside, Nifty Metal plummeted by 3.04%, whereas Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto, Nifty Pharma indices lost anywhere between 1-1.5%. Fear gauge index India VIX cooled off further by 2.71% to 17.54 levels

Broader markets

Cuts in the broader markets were much deeper as the BSE MidCap index slipped 250 points or 0.97% to 25,566 and the BSE SmallCap index closed at 28,336 losing 343 points or 1.20%. After opening positive market breadth turned negative as 1,973 shares declined while 1,322 advanced and 153 remained unchanged.

Global markets

European stocks rallied across the board while Asian stocks were mixed on Friday, as fears over the Chinese property market cooled, while investors monitored corporate earnings and key economic data. Shares of China Evergrande Group bounced in Hong Kong following media reports that the embattled developer is set to pay off a coupon payment on a dollar-denominated bond.