Market Wrap: Nifty down 23,501,Sensex drops 269 pts

The Indian equity benchmark indices traded lower in the highly volatile session on Friday, dragged down by FMCG, bank, and realty stocks that fell the most.Though, market started the day with gains, driven by the performance of information technology stocks, following a strong revenue growth forecast from U.S. IT company Accenture that exceeded expectations. At close,the Sensex was down 269.03 points or 0.35 percent at 77,209.90, and the Nifty was down 65.90 points or 0.28 percent at 23,501.10. About 1611 shares advanced, 1750 shares declined, and 85 shares unchanged.
Highlights of Trade:
●Nifty IT rises over 1%,
●Nuvama initiates coverage on Bikaji Foods with buy rating,
●NBFC Avanse Financial files DRHP for Rs 3,500 cr IPO,
●Hindustan Zinc's up 6% on MoU with US battery maker.
Bharti Airtel, LTIMindtree, Adani Ports, Hindalco and Infosys are the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Adani Enterprises, UltraTech Cement, BPCL, HUL and L&T.
On the sectoral front, IT, metal, media and Telecom up 0.5-1 percent, while auto, FMCG, PSU Bank and Realty down 0.5-1 percent.The BSE midcap index was down 0.2 percent while smallcap index was up 0.2 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 21 June'34,the Indian rupee appreciated 10 paise at 83.54 supported by foreign capital and strong equity market sentiment. Forex traders said the local unit found support from retreating American currency and easing crude oil prices overseas.
Trading Guide
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services,said the domestic market witnessed minor profit booking amid concerns over the slow progress of the monsoon, resulting in underperformance in the FMCG sector. The heatwave in Northern India is driving consumer durables stocks up. The global markets were subdued as weak guidance from Accenture led to profit booking in US tech stocks. Conversely, domestic IT stocks saw buying interest as market participants appeared to have factored in weaker earnings. Attention is now focused on the upcoming GST meeting, where the potential rationalization of GST rates in certain sectors is under discussion.
Market experts have  recommended three stocks to buy today — NMDC Ltd, Mahanagar Gas Ltd, and Aarti Industries Ltd.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)