Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv drag Sensex lower

BSE Sensex was down by more than 100 points on Friday, amid selling in heavyweights.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bajaj Finance was down by more than 6 per cent. Bajaj Finserv was down more than 2 per cent.

Among the gainers, Tech Mahindra was up more than 8 per cent. BSE Sensex was trading at 74,234 points, down 105 points.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services downgraded Bajaj Finance stock to Neutral which it said was predicated on the near-term headwinds on AUM growth as the company is cutting down business in Rural B2C, and slower AUM growth in the B2B business due to the RBI ban on ecommerce and Insta EMI card, NIM compression of 35bp in FY25E due to the expected rise in the cost of borrowings, difficulty in passing on the interest rate hikes to customers, and change in product mix.

V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said the market’s resilience is evident in the fifth straight day of up move supported by massive DII buying of Rs 6,167 crores yesterday, completely overwhelming the sustained FII selling. With the US 10-year bond yield rising above 4.7 per cent, FIIs will continue to sell.

Data from the US reflects weakening of the US economy. Q1 GDP growth has come lower than expected at 1.6 per cent but the Fed is unlikely to cut rates in the next couple of meetings since inflation continues to remain hot, he said.

“Pharma has emerged as a sought-after sector in recent days. This is a sector to watch,” he said.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities said US stocks closed lower on Thursday as markets were shocked by data showing slower-than-expected US economic growth and persistent inflation. Stocks also reacted to disappointing forecasts from Facebook and Instagram owner Meta hammered the tech sector.

The world’s largest technology companies soared in late trading as stellar results from Microsoft Corp. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. fuelled confidence in Wall Street’s megacap group. However, Intel shares dropped 8 per cent in extended hours trading after it forecast second-quarter revenue and profit below market estimates, he said.