Nifty gains third straight session, but weekly losing streak hits six

The Nifty gained for a third straight session on Friday, closing at 23,346.40, but the index still ended the week lower for a sixth week in a row.

The Sensex ended at 74,294.96, down 19.63 points.

For the week, the Sensex fell 0.65 percent and the Nifty fell 0.22 percent.

A large NSE IPO drew liquidity away from the market during the week.

Crude oil and West Asia tensions continued to weigh on sentiment.

Crude oil remained a key factor, with Brent crude trading above the 100 dollar a barrel mark and easing to about 103 dollars on Friday.

Geopolitical concerns in West Asia continued to weigh on sentiment through the week.

Foreign institutional investor selling and elevated US bond yields were also cited among the pressures on the market.

A large NSE IPO worth about Rs 22,569 crore drew capital away from the secondary market during the week and constrained liquidity.

Technology stocks were among the laggards, and Tata Group shares including TCS and Titan fell sharply, with some of the declines running up to about 4 percent.

Banking, energy and life insurance stocks, including HDFC Life and SBI Life, were among the gainers.

The divergence between a falling Sensex and a rising Nifty on Friday reflected differences in the two indices’ constituents and bargain buying in some Nifty stocks.

On Thursday, September 17, the Sensex had closed at 74,314.59 and the Nifty at 23,270.60.

The Nifty 50 has now advanced for three sessions in a row, even though the weekly figures remain negative.

Market participants are watching crude oil prices, foreign fund flows and corporate earnings for cues on direction in the coming week.

Trading resumes on Monday, September 21, after the weekend.

On Friday, September 18, the 30-share Sensex fell 19.63 points, or 0.03 percent, to settle at 74,294.96.

Bombay Stock Exchange building, Mumbai (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0