Indian markets end lower on week-end trading

Mumbai, Sept 11: Indian equity benchmarks ended lower today but staged a sharp recovery from their intraday lows as banking stocks led a late-session rebound.

The Nifty Bank recovered more than 900 points from the day’s low, turning positive by the close.

The Sensex fell 121 points to 74,782, while the Nifty declined 80 points to 23,398.

The Nifty Bank gained 135 points to end at 56,607, whereas the Nifty Midcap index slipped 160 points to 62,197.

The late recovery was led by financial stocks, with HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank among the key contributors to the rebound in the banking index. Yes Bank was among the strongest performers in the sector, gaining 5 per cent as banking stocks broadly recovered from their day’s lows.

Realty stocks remained under pressure amid growing expectations of a rate hike. Godrej Properties fell 7 per cent, emerging among the biggest losers in the sector.

Metal stocks also declined as lower metal prices weighed on the sector. National Aluminium Company, Hindustan Zinc and NMDC fell 2-3 per cent. Supreme Industries and Astral declined around 4 per cent each amid concerns over demand.

Cochin Shipyard dropped 9 per cent after the company issued cautious guidance for FY27, making it one of the biggest decliners during the session.

PI Industries fell more than 4 per cent after Japanese agrochemical company Kumiai, one of its major customers, lowered its guidance.

Selective buying emerged in IT stocks at lower levels, with Tech Mahindra and Wipro gaining around 1 per cent each. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was among the top Nifty gainers, ending 2 per cent higher.

Capital market stocks also recovered sharply in the final hour. BSE and Angel One ended around 5 per cent above their respective intraday lows.

Fintech stocks saw a similar late-session rebound, with Paytm, Pine Labs and MobiKwik gaining as much as 5 per cent.

The sharp recovery in financial stocks helped limit the broader market’s losses, although the benchmark indices remained in negative territory at the close. (BVI)