Sensex, Nifty end flat as financials decline; HDFC Bank shares tank 4.5%

Benchmark stock market indices ended Friday’s trading session on a weak note as banking and financial stocks declined.

The S&P BSE Sensex was down 53.07 points at 79,996.60 at the closing bell, while the NSE Nifty50 settled 26 points higher at 24,328.15.

However, most of the other broader market indices ended in positive territory as volatility declined.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Financial Services was the top losers along with Nifty Bank, dragged down by a over 4% decline in HDFC Bank shares.

However, a surge in shares of Oil & Gas stocks, led by ONGC and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) helped markets pare some losses suffered in early trade.

The top five gainers on the Nifty50 were ONGC, Reliance, SBI, Britannia and Cipla. On the other hand, the biggest drags were HDFC Bank, Titan, LTIM, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, “The domestic market traded with a mixed bias, with the heavy-weight banking sector acting as a laggard. Adding to the worry are the top lending banks, which recorded a sequential decline in deposit growth in the June quarter.”

“While Midcap and Small Cap outperformed and the respective BSE indices hit an all-time high. Globally, investors now await the US non-farm payroll data to be released later today to gauge the trajectory of the US Fed’s potential rate cuts,” he added.