Profit booking, global cues subdue equities; banking stocks fall

Mumbai, June 4 Profit booking along with lacklustre global cues subdued India's key equities indices on Friday.

India's benchmark indices ended the day with small losses on the last trading session of the week.

During the early trading hours, equity markets opened on a positive note but could not sustain at higher levels post the RBI's MPC announcement.

Besides, global cues were mixed amidst a new US tax plan and encouraging non-farm payroll data.

On the domestic front, the two indices snapped their two day positive momentum and witnessed profit booking, despite the RBI keeping repo rate unchanged and maintaining the policy stance as "accommodative".

In terms of sector specific basis, the top gainers were the BSE oil and gas, cepital goods, metal, telecom and auto indices.

On the other hand, the top losers were the BSE Bankex, CD and FMCG indices.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 52,100.05, lower by 132.38 points, or 0.25 per cent, from its previous close.

On the other hand, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange traded at 15,670.25, up by 20.10 points, or 0.13 per cent, from its previous close.

"Technically, while the Nifty has corrected today, the intermediate uptrend remains intact," said Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

"We expect the Nifty to gradually move higher towards new life highs in the coming sessions. Immediate supports to watch for weakness are at 15,622-15,611."

Siddhartha Khemka, Head, Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "After the recent run-up, Nifty now trades at rich valuations. Thus any negative surprise or misses in the June quarter earnings could act as a dampener."

"However, the overall structure of the market remains positive as the second Covid wave has now started to recede... There is greater visibility on vaccine supply now versus April'21 and May'21. As states ease restrictions gradually in Jun'21, we expect the demand environment to get better."