The Indian share market closed marginally lower after extremely volatile trading on Thursday. Domestic indices were resolute, preventing a large collapse in the wake of US tariff imposition on India, led by buying in FMCG stocks.
Sensex closed the session at 81,185.58, lower by 296.28 points or 0.36 per cent. The 30-share index started trading with a steep decline at 80,695.50 compared to the previous session's closing of 81,481.86.
The index proved resilient, shedding early gains and reversing in the green in the afternoon, touching an intraday high of 81,803.27 on buying in the consumer space. It failed to sustain the momentum in the final hour of trading on a monthly expiry day, though.
Nifty settled at 24,768.35, falling 86.70 points or 0.35 per cent.
India's real strength lies in the resilience of its economy, say analysts.
Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Reliance, Asian Paints, L&T and Titan were the worst losers from the Sensex basket. Hindustan Unilever, Eternal, ITC, and Kotak Mahindra Bank closed in green, however.
The selling pressure was also seen taking hold of the wider market. Nifty 100 dropped by 95 points or 0.38 per cent, Nifty Mid cap 100 pulled down 541 points or 0.93 per cent, and Nifty Small cap 100 closed down 190 points or 1.05 per cent.
In contrast, during a bearish trend, Nifty FMCG climbed 791 points or 1.44 per cent due to buying interest- particularly in Hindustan Unilever following its good earnings report in Q1.
The other sectoral indices closed in the red with Nifty Auto dropping 89 points, Nifty IT losing 180 points, and Nifty Bank closing 188 points lower.
The local market made a strong attempt at rebounding after having a sharp fall, but towards the end of the day, it closed with marginal losses on a monthly expiry date.
"investors flocked to domestically focused, non-discretionary players, particularly FMCG, that provided compelling valuations, demand prognosis and relative protection from tariff risks," the analysts said.
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