Markets languish for second day amid low risk appetite

Mumbai: Equity indices buckled under selling pressure for the second straight session on Friday as risk appetite remained subdued amid lacklustre global cues and lower-than-expected results from IT major TCS.

Banking, finance and IT counters accounted for most of the losses, while strong demand for metal stocks cushioned the fall.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 182.75 points or 0.35 per cent lower at 52,386.19. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 38.10 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 15,689.80.

Bajaj Auto was the top laggard on the Sensex chart, shedding 1.99 per cent, followed by TCS which dropped 1.52 per cent post its results.

The country's largest IT firm had on Thursday reported a 28.5 per cent jump in June quarter net profit at Rs 9,008 crore, but called out the domestic business as a drag which restricted its overall growth.

HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the other losers.

On the other hand, Tata Steel led the gainers' list with a jump of 4.16 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Maruti and Bajaj Finance. During the week, the Sensex declined 98.48 points or 0.18 per cent, while the Nifty dropped 32.40 points or 0.20 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE energy, bankex, oil and gas, IT and capital goods indices shed up to 0.71 per cent, while realty, metal, telecom, basic materials and healthcare climbed as much as 2.38 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap gauges outperformed the benchmark, closing up to 0.61 per cent higher.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.08 per cent to USD 74.92 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 554.92 crore, as per exchange data.