Markets snap 3-session winning streak; Sensex falls 125 points, Nifty below 17,600

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks surged to fresh lifetime peaks on Friday but finished with modest losses, snapping their three-session winning streak, as investors rotated out of RIL, metal and IT stocks at higher levels.

After gyrating 866 points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 125.27 points or 0.21 per cent lower at 59,015.89. It had surged to a lifetime high of 59,737.32 in the morning session.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 44.35 points or 0.25 per cent to close at 17,585.15, after touching an intra-day record of 17,792.95.

Tata Steel was the top laggard among the Sensex components, tumbling 3.57 per cent, followed by SBI, TCS, HUL, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank. In contrast, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Nestle India and Bajaj Finserv were among the prominent winners, climbing as much as 5.26 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE metal, realty, basic materials, energy, power and utilities indices fell up to 2.49 per cent, while bankex, telecom, finance and auto finished higher. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices dived up to 1.14 per cent.

The rupee closed 4 paise higher at 73.48 against the US dollar on Friday, tracking weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.