Indian shares end lower to post weekly loss on hawkish cenbankss
Indian shares settled lower on Friday to register a weekly loss, with the Nifty 50 in negative territory through the session as hawkish central banks soured risk appetite and domestic benchmarks began consolidating.
The Nifty 50 index fell 0.56% to 18,665.50 at close, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.41% to 62,979.37.
For the week, the Nifty 50 and the Sensex lost 0.85% and 0.64%, respectively, both snapping a four-week winning streak. This was also their biggest weekly decline since late April.
"The Nifty's resistance levels are around 18,700-18,880. Hence, we are seeing a little bit of consolidation," said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.
The index has good support around the 18,400-18,500 levels and there could be some opportunities to start buying again, Dasgupta added.
Investors should wait for a dip because most of the stocks are really stretched in terms of valuations, he said, adding that there will likely be a correction in the next couple of weeks before the June-quarter corporate earnings kick off.
Only one of the 13 major Nifty indexes climbed. Metal stocks closed 2.48% lower over fears of weak demand for commodities as global growth concerns from further monetary tightening remained following hawkish comments from the central banks.
Among individual stocks, Adani Group stocks declined between 1.5% and 6.8% following a report on U.S. attorney inquiring with investors holding large stakes.
Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports were the top losers on the Nifty 50, shedding 6.8% and 4.2%, respectively.
IndusInd Bank closed 2.8% higher after a report said Hinduja Group may soon get the Reserve Bank of India's approval to hike stake in the lender to 26% from 15%.
Meanwhile, Eros International Media ended 19.9% lower after the country's market regulator barred parent Eros Group's managing director Sunil Arjan Lulla and three of the group's units from the securities market.