Equities suffered yet another onslaught from bears on Friday that was more visible on large market. The Nifty Next 50 slumped over 1,300 points or 2 per cent, the Nifty Midcap 100 plummeted 1,160.15 or 2 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap 100 plunged 473 points or 2.61 per cent.

The number of stocks hitting 52-week lows on the BSE (264) significantly outnumbered those touching 52-week highs (102). The BSE market capitalisation continued its downward trend through the week, declining from ₹44.02 lakh crore on January 6 to ₹43.12 lakh crore on January 10, 2025.

Market breadth remained decisively negative with 3,167 stocks declining against 827 advances, while 84 remained unchanged in D – street exchange.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed at 77,378.91, down 241.30 points or 0.31 per cent, while the Nifty 50 ended at 23,431.50, dropping 95.00 points or 0.4 per cent. Both the indexes fell about 2.4% this week, snapping a two-week winning streak.

In a day marked by significant currency movements and mixed market performance, IT majors emerged as the top gainers while the broader market witnessed selling pressure. The Indian rupee breached the crucial ₹86 mark against the US dollar for the first time, closing at a historic low amid strengthening of the American currency and substantial foreign fund outflows.

TCS led the IT pack surge amongst the Sensex stocks with a 5.67 per cent gain to close at ₹4,265.55, followed by Tech Mahindra rising 3.63 per cent to ₹1,703; HCL Technologies advancing 3.13 per cent to ₹1,995.60, and Infosys climbing 2.55 per cent to ₹1,966.70. Bajaj Finserv was the only non-IT stock among top gainers, rising marginally by 0.55 per cent to ₹1,699.85.

The banking and infrastructure sectors faced significant selling pressure, with IndusInd Bank emerging as the biggest loser, dropping 4.41 per cent to ₹937.60. NTPC declined 3.78 per cent to ₹308.20, while UltraTech Cement fell 3.57 per cent to ₹10,866.20. State Bank of India and Sun Pharma also registered losses of 2.26 per cent and 2.25 per cent, closing at ₹743.15 and ₹1,785 respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Power slumped 3.07 per cent, utilities (2.86 per cent), Realty (2.64 per cent), industrials (2.08 per cent), commodities (2.05 per cent) and consumer durables (1.98 per cent). On the other hand, BSE IT jumped 3.17 per cent.

“The Nov-24 IIP data is an encouraging sign, but decisive action will be critical and all eyes will be on Union Budget 2025-26,” said Arsh Mogre, Economist Institutional Equities at PL Capital – Prabhudas Lilladher, commenting on the latest Industrial Production data showing 5.2 per cent growth in November 2024.

In the currency market, the rupee opened at 85.88 and touched an intra-day high of 85.85 before settling at 86.00 against the US dollar. The decline came amid rising US bond yields, which touched 4.69 per cent, and strengthening dollar index at 109.01. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading ₹7,170.87 crore in the capital markets on Thursday.

Global oil prices showed an upward trend with Brent crude futures rising 1.96 per cent to $78.43 per barrel, adding to the market’s cautious sentiment ahead of the anticipated restrictive trade measures by the incoming US administration.