Persistent Systems gains for ninth day, Funds eyeing Exide: What kept dealers busy on Friday?

Benchmark indices finally ended an eight-day run of gains ending lower on Friday. Despite the drop, both Sensex & the Nifty 50 ended the week with gains. Flows were mixed but with a positive bias.

Dealers indicate that markets are consolidating after the recent upmove and that this trend may continue for a few more days, even as the market remains in an uptrend. On the downside, they see support for the Nifty 50 at levels of 18,300.

The day belonged to NBFC names that outperformed while autos continued to witness a bout of profit booking.

Macrotech Developers: Shares of the real estate developer ended higher for the second day on Friday after Chris Wood of Jefferies increased the weightage of Macrotech in his Asia Ex-Japan portfolio by six percent. The management, on CNBC-TV18 said that the new land parcels acquired by the company will fetch them sales worth Rs 3,500 crore. Dealers indicate that a selling pressure from a leading foreign investor is likely to be over, thereby triggering an upmove in the stock. You can watch the entire interaction of Macrotech's management here.

Aditya Birla Capital: Shares ended higher for the sixth straight day and also at a 52-week high on strong volumes. Dealing rooms indicate that the stock has been receiving strong buy flows recently and a leading HNI has been among the buyers.

Exide Industries: Both domestic mutual funds and foreign investors look to be lapping up shares of the battery manufacturer as dealers anticipate heavy volumes on the stock on Friday. Shares have ended higher in five out of the last six trading sessions.