The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Friday mirroring losses in other Asian markets. Selling pressure in private sector banking, metal, financial services and auto stocks dragged the benchmarks lower. The Sensex fell as much as 264 points to 51,061.19 and Nifty 50 index declined as much as 76 points to 15,043. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance were among the top drags on the Sensex.
As of 9:26 am, the Sensex was down 217 points at 51,107 and Nifty 50 index slipped 64 points to 15,055.
Selling pressure was visible across the sectors as eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Metal index’s 1.4 per cent fall. Nifty Auto, Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and IT indexes also fell between 0.6-1.2 per cent.
On the other hand, FMCG, PSU Bank and Media indexes were among the sectoral gainers.
Mid- and small-cap shares were facing selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.25 per cent and Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 0.12 per cent.
Tata Steel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.33 per cent to Rs 681. ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki and TCS also fell between 1-2 per cent.
On the flipside, GAIL India, UPL, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,231 shares were advancing while 974 were declining on the BSE.
