Markets remain bearish; BSE falls 77 pts, Nifty below 17,110
Mumbai: Market benchmarks reversed early gains to close in the red on Friday, capping a week of heavy declines triggered by a hawkish US Federal Reserve, geopolitical tensions and unabated foreign fund outflows.
Starting off on a high note, the 30-share BSE Sensex soared above the key 58,000-level, before plunging to a low of 57,119.28.
After fighting bouts of volatility towards the fag-end of the session, the index finally closed 76.71 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 57,200.23, marking its second straight session of losses.
Likewise, the NSE Nifty too swung between gains and losses before ending 8.20 points or 0.05 per cent down at 17,101.95.
Maruti was the biggest laggard among the Sensex constituents, skidding 2.99 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI.
In contrast, NTPC, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Wipro and ITC were among the prominent gainers, jumping as much as 3.89 per cent.
Bharti Airtel advanced 1.23 per cent after Google announced an up to $1 billion investment in India's second-largest telecom operator. '
In the holiday-shortened week, the Sensex plummeted 1,836.95 points or 3.11 per cent, while the Nifty lost 515.20 points or 2.92 per cent.
Sectorally, BSE banking, auto and finance indices fell as much as 0.75 per cent in Friday's session. Of the 19 sectoral indices, 5 closed with losses.
In contrast with the benchmark, broader largecap, midcap and smallcap indices closed in the green — spurting up to 1.07 per cent.
Global markets were largely negative as robust US GDP growth and strong corporate earnings failed to offset the impact of the Fed's hawkish policy stance.
Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo and Seoul ended higher, while Shanghai and Hong Kong closed in the red.
Bourses in Europe were trading in the negative zone in the afternoon session.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude eased 0.42 per cent to $89.70 per barrel. The rupee closed almost flat at 75.10 against the
US dollar.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, offloading shares worth Rs 6,266.75 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.
