Mumbai, Feb 18 Global cues as well as continuous selling by FIIs subdued India's equity indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 on Friday.
Accordingly, indices closed lower for the third consecutive session amidst uncertainties on the way ahead for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Besides, the FIIs were net sellers on BSE, NSE & MSEI in the capital market segment. They net sold Rs 2,529.96 crore worth of equities.
On Thursday, they had sold Rs 1,242.10 crore worth of equities. The market opened lower but soon began to rise till afternoon session only to cede gains later on during the day's trade.
Globally, stocks vacillated between losses and gains on Friday as planned talks between Russia and the US over Ukraine alleviated some investor gloom about geopolitical risks. On the domestic front, volumes on the NSE were the lowest since April 2020.
Amongst sectoral indices, capital gains and banking indices gained the most whereas realty and oil and gas indices fell the most.
Consequently, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 57,832.97 points, down 0.10 per cent or 59.04 points, whereas NSE Nifty50 closed at 17,276.30 points, down 0.16 per cent or 28.30 points.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said: "22-month low volumes suggest that traders are unsure about the direction of the markets amidst number of triggers.
"While limited fall over three-days post a sharp recovery on February 15 suggests relative strength in the frontline indices, volumes may have to rise to generate more confidence for long traders."
According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services: "Equity markets have seen a rise in volatility in the last couple of days due to varying news flows coming in from the Ukraine border.
"Volatility is expected to remain high next week as well, given the crucial meeting between US and Russia. Inflationary concern, continuous FIIs selling and monthly 'F&O' expiry could add to the volatility next week."
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: "Domestic equities struggled for a firm direction in today's volatile trade as the market opened low taking cues from yesterday's sell-off in Wall Street following the release of FOMC meeting minutes.
"Reports that the US Secretary of State agreed to meet the Russian foreign minister in order to ease tension helped the domestic market to wipe-off early losses though sell-off was seen in late hours. As current global cues are forcing global equities to remain unstable, the domestic market is also expected to continue its volatile trend in the coming days."
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