NEW DELHI: The benchmark indices failed to hold on to opening gains and ended lower in yet another volatile session on Friday.
Selling was seen in heavyweights and stocks across sectors, barring metal.
Sensex opened higher at 75,017.82, and climbed to a high of 75,095.18 in early trades, but gave up its gains to fall more than 1 per cent and touch a low of 73,467.73.
Nifty 50, opened higher at 22,766.35, climbed to a fresh peak of 22,794.70. It fell more than 1 per cent soon after to touch a low of 22,348.05 as investors made a beeline to book profits.
At close, Sensex was down 732.96 points, or 0.98 per cent at 73,878.15 while the Nifty 50 was down 172.35 points, or 0.76 per cent at 22,475.85.
Out of the 30 on the BSE Sensex, only six stocks, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, SBI and ICICI Bank, ended in the green.
Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, and Bharti Airtel were the top losers for the day.
On the Nifty 50, Coal India, Grasim Industries, ONGC, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, and Hindalco were the top gainers for the day, while Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki India, Nestle India, Reliance Industries, and Bharti Airtel, were the top drags.
Among sectors, except metal, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with capital goods, realty, telecom and PSU Bank down one percent each, while oil & gas, auto, Information Technology and Media fell 0.5% each.
A volume spike of more than 500% was seen in Torrent Power, Cummins and Bajaj Finance.
Further, a long build-up was seen in Coal India, BHEL, NMDC, while a short build-up was seen in Coforge, MRF and SRF.
Experts believe that the frontline indices of the Indian stock market are rising and making a series of new highs due to robust Indian economic developments in the previous month.
India has registered the highest auto sales, highest GST collection, highest power consumption, highest monthly home sales, lowest bank NPA, and highest UPI transaction in April 2024 leading to the market gains.
The selloff was broad-based as the BSE Midcap index fell 0.21 per cent while the Smallcap index declined 0.55 per cent.
The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to nearly Rs 406.2 lakh crore from nearly Rs 408.5 lakh crore in the previous session.
Some of the notable performances were of CEAT whose shares plunged 9.8 per cent in morning deals. In the Q4 results, the tyre maker reported a 23 per cent YoY decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 102 crore.
Experts are of the view that the market is witnessing healthy corrections at the higher levels. They find this profit booking in line with expectations and do not consider it a matter of concern.
On the global parameters, the shares were firmer ahead of key US non-farm payroll numbers, underpinned by reassurance from the Federal Reserve that the next move in rates would be down.
Asian shares surged to their highest in 15 months on Friday led by tech and Hong Kong stocks.
The MSCI All Country stock index was up 0.23 per cent at 762.23 points, down 3 per cent from its lifetime high in March.
Agencies

Agencies