By IANS
Mumbai : The Indian equity market swung like a pendulum between negative and positive zones in an extremely volatile trade Friday.
The market started the day on a positive note taking cues from global markets but settled on a weak note. The IT and consumer durables sectors kept the market hopes alive while realty, metal and banking scrip struggled.
The 30-share benchmark index ended down 62.04 points or 0.35 percent at 17,464.89 while the Nifty closed down 13.25 points or 0.25 percent at 5,120.35.
The midcap and smallcap indices were in red. The BSE midcap ended down 1.9 percent at 7633.27 and smallcap declined 2.77 percent at 9920.35.
The market breadth was weak on BSE – about 590 shares advanced, 2,369 shares declined and 52 shares were unchanged.
Among Sensex stocks, Hindustan Unilever rose 6.19 percent to Rs.211.95, ONGC was up by 0.89 percent to Rs.997.25, ITC rose 2.47 percent to Rs.196.95 and Ranbaxy Laboratories went up by 2.32 percent to Rs.382.30.
HDFC, India’s biggest dedicated housing finance firm by revenue, fell 4.47 percent to Rs.2,796.20.
IT stocks strengthened on bargain hunting after they fell for the last three consecutive trading sessions. Infosys was up 4.76 percent to Rs.1,551.35, Satyam Computer Services vaulted by 4.9 percent to Rs.410, Tata Consultancy Services rose by 1.93 percent to Rs.899.95 and Wipro edged higher by 3.07 percent to Rs.422.45.
Metal stocks declined. Steel Authority of India was down by 4.61 percent to Rs.200.60, Tata Steel fell by 2.72 percent to Rs.750.40 and Hindalco Industries went down by 1.71 percent to Rs.160.50.
Banking stocks declined after the latest data showed rise in inflation. ICICI Bank declined 3.49 percent to Rs.1,066.70, HDFC Bank went down by 3.06 percent to Rs.1,445.95.
Capital goods stocks fell. India’s largest engineering & construction firm by revenue Larsen & Toubro fell 2.84 percent to Rs.3,527.30. India’s biggest power equipment maker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals declined 0.31 percent to Rs.2,013.70 despite winning a contract worth Rs.33.9 billion ($856.7 million).