SENSEX, NIFTY50 fall for second straight session dragged down by IT, banking stocks

The Indian equity benchmarks extended their losing streak to second straight session on Friday, December 26, dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Infosys. The SENSEX fell as much as 471 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 26,008.60 amid lack of cues from global markets.

The SENSEX ended 367 points lower at 85,041 and NIFTY50 index declined 100 points to close at 26,042. For the week, SENSEX ended 0.13% higher and NIFTY50 index advanced 0.29%.

Most of the markets in Europe were closed on account of Boxing Day holiday while Asian markets ended higher.

Sectoral picture

Eleven of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower dragged down by NIFTY IT index's 1% fall. NIFTY Financial Services, Auto, Bank, Pharma, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty and Healthcare indices also fell between 0.3%-0.5%.

On the flipside, metal stocks witnessed buying interest on the back of surging copper prices in the international and domestic markets. NIFTY Metal index advanced 0.6% powered by gains in Hindustan Copper and Hindalco.

Broader markets also ended lower as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 0.23% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index declined 0.08%.

Among the individual shares, Hindustan Copper jumped 9% to ₹475 amid surging price of copper in the international and domestic markets amid reports of shortage of the red metal. Copper futures for delivery on December 31 rose as much as 4.22% to hit record high of ₹1,205.40 per kilogram on the MCX.

Shares of the country's leading eyewear maker, Lenskart Solutions, rose as much as 3.98% to hit an intraday high of ₹470 after the company on Wednesday night informed exchanges that its subsidiary acquired a Korean startup.

Lenskart on Wednesday, December 24, post market hours, informed exchanges that the board of directors of Lenskart Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenskart Solutions, approved an investment of 3 billion Korean won (approximately ₹18.6 crore) for the acquisition of 29.24% stake in iiNeer Corp., Ltd., a company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Korea.

Shares of Dilip buildcon jumped over 5% after the company announced a significant order win from Adani Road Transport Ltd.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

Asian Paints was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 1.4% to close at ₹2,746. Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Eternal and Sun Pharma also fell between 1%-1.37%.

On the other hand, Titan , Hindalco, NTPC, Cipla, Adani Enterprises, ONGC and JSW Steel were among the top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,456 shares ended lower while 1,745 closed higher on the BSE.