India stocks lower at close of trade; Nifty 50 down 0.02%

Investing.com – India stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Oil&Gas, Public Sector Undertakings and Metals sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NSE, the Nifty 50 lost 0.02%, while the BSE Sensex 30 index declined 0.02%.

The best performers of the session on the Nifty 50 were Bajaj Finserv Ltd (NS:BJFS), which rose 1.51% or 24.00 points to trade at 1,616.55 at the close. Meanwhile, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd (NS:SBIL) added 1.29% or 19.50 points to end at 1,529.15 and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (NS:REDY) was up 1.23% or 78.20 points to 6,442.15 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NS:BPCL), which fell 1.27% or 7.95 points to trade at 617.95 at the close. HCL Technologies Ltd (NS:HCLT) declined 1.22% or 20.65 points to end at 1,665.75 and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (NS:MRTI) was down 1.05% or 122.20 points to 11,535.60.

The top performers on the BSE Sensex 30 were Bajaj Finserv Ltd (BO:BJFS) which rose 1.43% to 1,616.50, Mahindra&Mahindra Ltd. (BO:MAHM) which was up 1.13% to settle at 1,930.20 and Titan Company Ltd (BO:TITN) which gained 1.08% to close at 3,691.25.

The worst performers were HCL Technologies Ltd (BO:HCLT) which was down 1.42% to 1,662.85 in late trade, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (BO:MRTI) which lost 1.32% to settle at 11,521.10 and Asian Paints Ltd. (BO:ASPN) which was down 1.21% to 2,982.00 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the India National Stock Exchange by 1123 to 1020 and 41 ended unchanged; on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 1961 rose and 1739 declined, while 95 ended unchanged.

Shares in SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd (NS:SBIL) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.29% or 19.50 to 1,529.15. Shares in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (NS:REDY) rose to all time highs; rising 1.23% or 78.20 to 6,442.15. Shares in Mahindra&Mahindra Ltd. (BO:MAHM) rose to all time highs; rising 1.13% or 21.60 to 1,930.20.

The India VIX, which measures the implied volatility of Nifty 50 options, was down 1.48% to 14.97.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.09% or 1.80 to $2,028.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.26% or 0.99 to hit $77.62 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 1.10% or 0.92 to trade at $82.75 a barrel.

USD/INR was up 0.11% to 82.93, while EUR/INR rose 0.12% to 89.76.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 103.90.