Closing Bell: Market ends marginally lower; Nifty hangs on to 17500 level

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty traded within a narrow range around the flatline on Friday amid a mixed trend in global markets. Selling in financial, IT and oil & gas stocks pulled the headline indices lower.

The Indian equity benchmarks extended the fall to the second day on Friday in a highly volatile trading session. But the positive news is that both the benchmarks logged their first weekly gain in three weeks in a budget-driven rally.

At the closing bell on February 4, the Sensex was down 143.20 points or 0.24% at 58,644.82, and the Nifty was down 43.90 points or 0.25% at 17,516.30. On the market breadth, around 1554 shares have advanced, 1704 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty losers on a volatile trading day were Hero MotoCorp, SBI, NTPC, HDFC Life and M&M. Top gainers included Hindalco Industries, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and Divis Labs.

Among the buzzing stocks, Hero MotoCorp was the top Nifty loser and lost 2.25% to Rs2,719.

On a sectoral basis, auto, PSU Bank and realty indices were down 1-2%, while metal index gained over 1%. In the broader market, BSE midcap index fell 0.68% and smallcap index shed 0.45.

According to expert analysis, Nifty remained volatile throughout the day with a bearish tone. The consolidation may continue in the short term as long as the index remains with the bands of 17400 and 17800. Any directional breakout in the near term may induce a further significant move.

In global markets Facebook owner Meta's shares crashed 25% on Thursday, losing more than USD 200 billion. This is the worst single-day fall by any company in the history of the US stock market. CEO Mark Zuckerberg lost USD 29 billion.