Mumbai: Indian equities fell on Friday, mirroring the decline in its Asian peers, as a sustained spike in crude oil prices and rise in US bond yields has kept Dalal Street investors on the edge. While the main indices partly recovered from lows, both Nifty and Sensex still ended lower for the fifth straight week.
NSE's Nifty fell 0.3% to close at 23,398.1. BSE's Sensex declined 0.2% to end at 74,781.76. Both indices had declined as much as 1% before recovering on Friday.
"We saw some respite in the markets in the second half of the day, as traders lightened positions, with some short covering ahead of the extended three-day holiday weekend," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research, Kotak Securities.
"Several key events are expected during this period, including the release of CPI numbers, potential positive developments on the geopolitical front, particularly as crude has crossed the $100 mark, and encouraging indications from the BRICS summit."
For the week, the Sensex and Nifty fell 2.3% and 2.1% respectively.
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Brent crude November futures were trading at $104.1 a barrel on Friday after climbing above $100 for the first time this week since May.
"With RSI readings in the oversold zone, a near-term pullback towards 23,700-23,800 cannot be ruled out," he said.
On Friday, the market's fear gauge- the Nifty's Volatility Index or VIX went up by 4% to 12.27 levels.
Broader market indices, Nifty Midcap 150 dropped 0.3% and Nifty Small-cap 250 fell 0.5%. Both indices have declined 1.4% and 0.8%, respectively, this week.
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"Markets appear deeply oversold after 25-30 days of weakness, and we believe the worst may be behind us. Even if crude spikes further, we do not expect the move to sustain, as elevated oil prices are a concern for economies worldwide," said Chouhan.
Jain said that a correction in crude prices and easing bond yields could signal a broader trend reversal.
"Until then, the near-term trend is likely to remain weak, with sideways-to-negative movement," he said. "Despite weakness in the index, stock-specific momentum, particularly in the small-cap space, remains encouraging, offering selective opportunities."
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan fell 1.9%, China declined 1.2%, Hong Kong fell 0.6%, South Korea declined 1.8% and Taiwan dropped 1.6%. The pan-Europe index Stoxx 600 was up 0.8% at the time of going to print.
Foreign portfolio investors net sold shares worth ₹931 crore. Domestic institutions were buyers to the tune of ₹1,968 crore.
