Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower with cut of around 0.20 percent on Friday. Index made a positive start as traders took support with renewed foreign fund inflow. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers purchased equities worth Rs 187.46 crore on Thursday. Soon, market gained traction and continued its firm trade during morning deals on account of value buying in IT and Tech stocks. However, in afternoon session, index trimmed most of its gain as market participants opted to book some profit at higher level. In last leg of the session, index wiped out all gain and entered into red terrain as the Indian rupee dropped 50 paise to a record low of 96.14 against the US dollar. The pressure on the rupee came amid heightened Middle East tensions, rising crude oil prices, and strong dollar yields. Finally, Nifty ended below 23,650 mark.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Media, IT and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, PSU Bank and Realty. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals and Solar Industries India. On the other hand, the top losers were Muthoot Finance, Hindustan Aeronautics and Hindustan Zinc. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24600 - 24400 calls and 22900 - 23100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
