Sensex gives up early gains; logs worst weekly drop in 4 months

The benchmark Sensex on Friday failed to hold to to early gains and ended 17 points lower due to losses in banking and consumer durable shares, logging its worst weekly drop since January. Profit-booking ahead of GDP data later this evening and RBI monetary policy review next week were among the factors that led to markets closing on a negative note, said brokers. In volatile trade, the 30-share BSE index commenced the day strong and touched an intra-day high of 24,353.59 from its previous close.

However, it gave up all gains and settled lower by 16.81 points, or 0.07%, at 24,217.34. on Thursday, it had fallen 322 points. In Sensex, 14 stocks declined led by SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and TCS. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Dr Reddy, Sun Pharma and NTPC were among 16 gainers.

On a weekly basis, the Sensex fell 476.09 points. This was its biggest loss since the week ending January 31, 2014 when it had weakened by 619.71 points. For the month, the Sensex gained a whopping 1,800 points -- logging its best monthly performance in recent times. The 50-scrip NSE index Nifty on Friday ended lower by 5.70 points, or 0.08%, at 7,229.95. Intra-day, it moved between 7,118.45 and 7,272.50.

Mixed trend in global market and absence of any positive cues on the domestic front as most of events, including government formation, have been factored in, traders said. Financial and banking stocks remained under pressure ahead of the RBI's policy review on June 3. Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 522.90 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data. The sentiment remains weak due to FII selling, traders added.

Sectorwise, the BSE Consumer Durables sector index fell the most by 1.78%, followed by Banking index (1.59 per cent) and Oil & Gas index (0.14%). However, the Healthcare index ended 2.59% higher and Realty index was up 2%.