The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday registered their sixth straight session fall, marking the worst week in over two years. The domestic indices oscillated between gains and losses in trade on Friday as investors remained worried about global growth outlook.
After gyrating in a range of 732 points intra-day, the BSE Sensex settled 135 points lower at 51,360, while the broader NSE Nifty closed trade at 15,293, down 67 points.
On the 30-share BSE platform, Bajaj twins, Coal India, JSW Steel, Apollo Hospitals, ITC, ICICI Bank, RIL, and HDFC Bank were the top Nifty gainers, rising between 0.8 per cent and 3 per cent.
On the flipside, Titan Company, Wipro, HDFC Life, Shree Cement, BPCL, Dr Reddy’s Labs, and Asian Paints were the top drags, down up to 6 per cent.
Sectorwise, the Nifty Pharma index was worst hit, down over 2 per cent on the NSE, while the Nifty Bank added the most, up 0.75 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices underperformed the benchmarks and sank up to 0.9 per cent.
In the previous trading on Thursday, the BSE Sensex sank 1,045 points to 51,495, while the broader NSE Nifty closed at 15,360, down 331 points. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,646 points from the day’s high to end at 51,495. It hit a low of 51,434 during the day.
In Asia, markets in Tokyo and Seoul ended lower, while Hong Kong and Shanghai posted gains.
European markets were higher on Friday, but remained on course for a bruising week as global stocks reacted to policy tightening from major central banks.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 0.8 per cent in early trade after an uncertain open. Stock exchanges in the US ended sharply lower on Thursday.
“The dominant theme impacting equity markets globally is the synchronised global monetary tightening and the consequent fears of economic slowdown,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.96 per cent to $120.96 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,257.65 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.