Nifty ends below 8600 on F&O expiry day; Sensex skids 224 pts

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended lower on F&O expiry day. The Nifty was down 58.10 points or 0.7 percent at 8592.20 while the Sensex slipped down 224.03 points or 0.8 percent at 27835.91BHEL, GAIL, ITC, Dr Reddy's Labs and Lupin were top gainers in the Sensex while Adani Ports, Wipro, Tata Steel, Infosys and SBI were losers in the Sensex. 3:00 pm Market outlook: Raamdeo Agrawal said although globally there is gloom, India presents an interesting option. "We are just USD 2 trillion economy. We have a long way to go,” he said. Talking about domestic investors, he said that there is a concern that the market is at a high level.

Stocks are expensive, he said, adding that he doesn’t see any crash happening right now. People are in a mood to redeem.

He also spoke about State Bank of India, calling it a rock. As far as secular growth stories are concerned, this is a testing time for good franchies,” he said.  He won’t be selling his well-earning franchises for something that may turn good.

2:30 am Market skids: The Nifty breached 8600 briefly. The Nifty is down 42.30 points or 0.5 percent at 8608 while the Sensex is down 151.90 points or 0.5 percent at 27908.04.Don't miss: Investment tips: Do you have these 4 stocks in your portfolio? 

The market has started to skid as F&O expiry is approaching. The Sensex is down 143.72 points or 0.5 percent at 27916.22 and the Nifty is down 38.90 points or 0.4 percent at 8611.40. About 1182 shares have advanced, 1419 shares declined, and 187 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, GAIL, ITC, Dr Reddy's and Axis Bank are top gainers. Adani Ports, Wipro, Tata Steel, Infosys and TCS are losers in the Sensex.

Indian economy is expected to clock 7.9 percent growth in the current fiscal driven by better monsoon, government pay hike, key reforms and FDI inflows, Goldman Sachs said today.

The global financial services major said the GDP is expected to improve gradually and for the April-June quarter it may slow a tad to 7.8 percent, in part due to unfavorable base. It had grown at 7.9 percent in the previous quarter.

"For the fiscal year 2016-17, we forecast real GDP to grow by 7.9 percent year-on-year, higher than consensus expectations of 7.5 percent and up from 7.6 percent in FY16," Goldman Sachs said in a research note.