Weak trading was seen in the domestic stock markets on Friday (26 December). Sensex and Nifty opened with a slight fall, but after that the fall increased further. At around 2 pm, the Sensex was trading around 85,043, down more than 360 points. Meanwhile, Nifty was trading around 26,060, down around 100 points. Consumer durables, metals and FMCG indices showed good gains, but the IT index declined by about 1 percent. Decline was also seen in auto, NBFC, pharma and healthcare sectors.
Today, mid-cap and small-cap stocks were under some pressure amid limited range trading in the domestic stock market. The midcap index fell 80 points to close at 13,732, while the smallcap index closed almost flat at 17,706. Investors’ focus remained on select sectors and stocks, with some sectors witnessing vigorous buying while others saw profit-booking.
Where was the weakness in Nifty 50?
Pressure was seen in selected heavyweight stocks of Nifty 50 today. Asian Paints, Shriram Finance and Eternal fell around 1.3 per cent each, while Bajaj Finance declined around 1.1 per cent. Profit-booking and sector-specific pressure at higher levels in these stocks influenced the market movement.
Nifty 50 gainers supported
On the other hand, some large-cap stocks supported the market. Titan gained more than 2 percent, while Nestle and Hindalco closed up around 1 percent. Cipla also registered a slight rise. Buying in defensive and metal stocks limited the market’s decline. Strong rally in railway shares
Railway sector shares were the most discussed in today’s trading session. RVNL witnessed a strong rise of around 12%, while IRFC gained around 9%. RailTel and Titagarh Rail Systems also registered a rise of 5% to 6%. Expectations of railway infrastructure orders and positive sentiment towards the sector kept these stocks higher.
Strong action in selected shares
Among other select stocks, Hindustan Copper gained nearly 9%, while Vikram Engineering gained nearly 4.5%. Meanwhile, IT stocks Coforge and Stylum Industries witnessed a decline of around 4% each, indicating stock-specific weakness.
Top Gainers and Top Losers
In today’s session, GMDC was one of the top gainers, rising by nearly 8%. NBCC, Karur Vysya Bank and Craftsman Automation also rose around 5% each. On the other hand, shares like Lloyds Enterprises and Jarrow Institute fell up to 7%, while Gujarat Pipavav Port and Anand Rathi shares fell around 4%.