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Logging sixth straight session highs, stock indices in India closed the week's trade marginally in the red, presumably attributable to profit booking.
Sensex almost touched 86,000 at one point today. At closing, it was at 85,571.85 points, down 264.27 points or 0.31 per cent. Nifty closed at 26,175.15 points, down 40.90 points or 0.16 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, bank, financial services, media, realty were the top losers, NSE data showed. "Following the recent impressive surge, the benchmark indices experienced a sideways movement today as investors engaged in profit booking at elevated levels," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. "Meanwhile, investors are looking forward to the Q2 earnings report, anticipating improvement in earnings outlook," Nair added. US Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee loosening interest rate by steep 50 basis points, in particular, had been lending fresh support to Indian stocks. Loosening monetary policy in the US through rate cuts typically leads to a flight of capital to markets where policy rates are high. The steeper the rate cut in the US, the more the tendency to flight of capital to alternative investment destinations, including India. Continued buying by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also somewhat supported the stock indices. Foreign portfolio investors upped their investments in India, hoping for a better return on investments due to the interest rate differentials. They have so far mopped up Rs 488,22 worth of stocks in India in September, data made available by NSDL showed. FPIs have been net buyers for the fourth month now. "Sectors like Public Sector Banks, Defence, and Railways, which saw heavy participation earlier, are gradually being overshadowed by underperformers such as Pharma, Private Banks, and mid-size IT. These sectors, with their attractive valuations, are likely to lead the next market phase for the coming quarters," said Krishna Appala, Sr Research Analyst, Capitalmind Research. (ANI)
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