The first week of the calendar year 2019 ended with losses amid broad-based selling pressure. A sell-off in the US equity markets led to a weakness in global markets, consequently leading to a phase of declines in the Nifty too.
Moreover, sentiment took a further hit over the fiscal deficit situation after the government, once again, missed the Rs1 lakh cr monthly GST collection target in December. This raised concerns that the government may fail to contain the fiscal deficit.
Sector-wise, most IT stocks suffered losses on Friday after the Indian currency appreciated against the US dollar. In addition, investor sentiment was also hit after the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell sharply.
Metals stocks too lost their sheen after Chinese data showed a drop in factory output, indicating a slowdown. Tata Steel, Hindalco, and Jindal Steel & Power were among the top losers.
For the week, the Metal index plunged 3.55%, Auto declined 4.49%, Energy fell 2.27%, Infra declined 1.47%, IT was down 1.67%, Media declined 1.45%, FMCG was down 1.16%, Midcap 100 lost 0.88%, while the Pharma index was down 0.3%.
Realty was the only sectoral index that gained 1.16% in the week to January 4 to close in the green.
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