The Indian stock market remains closed on Fridays due to the public holiday of Good Friday. Trading in Equity, Derivatives and SLB segments will remain suspended today. There will also be no action in the currency derivatives segment and interest rate derivatives segment. The market was also closed on Thursday on the occasion of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, Mahavir Jayanti.
Equity indices gave early gains to close in the red for the third session on Wednesday as selling in banking and finance counters amid inflationary pressure and persistent foreign fund outflows. A weak rupee and weak global cues also kept buying under control.
BSE Sensex It closed 237 points lower at 58,338.93. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 54.65 points or 0.31% to end at 17,475.65. In the broader market, the BSE Smallcap gauge rose 0.2%, while the Midcap index fell 0.2% in Wednesday’s session. The Sensex fell 1,108 points, or 1.8%, in the holiday week, while the Nifty 50 lost 1.7%.
“Domestic markets witnessed some selling pressure in a short trading week as investors remained cautious in view of continued high inflation and its impact on the economy. Going forward, as long as inflationary pressures persist, the market is likely to remain volatile, increasing the scope for aggressive rate hikes by central banks globally. Two index heavyweights Infosys and HDFC Bank will announce their results, to which the market will react on Monday. Overall, we expect healthy earnings which will drive further stock specific action in the stock market,” said Siddharth Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal.
According to official data released on Tuesday, India’s retail inflation hit a 17-month high of 6.95% in March, and remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance level, while IIP rose just 1.7% in February.