Nifty ends with moderate loss; ONGC, Tata Motors, HDFC dip

It was a boring session for the Indian equity benchmarks on Friday. Indices traded with moderate loss amid a narrow range of 5,565-5,595, after a initial spike. It seemed that market could be waiting for some more earnings, RBI policy in last week of July, clarity on European debt crisis etc for getting direction on either side.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 56.28 points, to close at 18,561.92 and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 18.7 points, to settle at 5,581.10. Even the global markets were in a consolidation mode.

The market is in the range of somewhere around 5,470 to 5,650-5,700 levels," Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Securities said.

"Unless and until we decisively cross above 5,750 I don't see the prospects of market going up. For that particular thing to happen, couple of things will have to be seen happening like first signal of inflation peaking out, interest rate peaking out and the creditability of the government getting established in taking policy reform measures. On the international front, if dollar stabilise vis-à-vis other currencies and crude oil prices and metal prices showing signs of coming down then we could probably see 5,750 crossing," Choksey said.

The sell-off in metal, FMCG, private financial and auto companies' shares put pressure on the market. Tata Motors was the biggest loser on Nifty, with falling over 3% - this could be because of profit booking or fall in its global sales. Company sold 89,846 units in June as against 90,702 units in a year ago period.

ONGC was another stock that weighed on the market, with falling 1.55%. There were reports yesterday after market hours that government may bring follow-on offer in September.