At 1.45 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 69.95 points or 0.25 per cent at 27,765.96 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 18.05 point or 0.21 per cent at 8,574.15.
Advertisement
The Sensex touched a high of 27,935.88 points and a low of 27,696.99 points during the intra-day trade.
On Thursday, both the key Indian indices had closed in the red, as volatility was induced by futures and options (F&O) expiry, coupled with negative global cues.
However, later in the day, negative cues from the global markets led the indices to cap gains.
Initially on Friday, the benchmark indices opened on a positive note.
US stocks drifted lower overnight, as orders for durable goods rebounded in July and two more Fed officials argued the case for another interest-rate increase on the eve of eagerly awaited speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen at the Kansas City Fed’s policy conference. On a weekly basis, the Sensex fell 294.75 points or 1.04% and the NSE Nifty slipped 94.35 points or 1.08%.
The rupee stayed firm at 67.06 against a USA dollar – depreciating by only a paisa – from its previous close of 67.05 on Thursday.
Besides, lower crude oil prices also added to the downward trajectory. “Having said that, I think India still remains a preferred market versus emerging economies”, said Daljeet Kohli, director and head of research at IndiaNivesh Securities. Foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers in Indian equities and offloaded shares worth a net Rs.372.08 crore on Thursday while domestic financial institutions offloaded shares to the extent of Rs. 357.02 crore, according to provisional data released by BSE.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE capital goods index plunged by 184.38 points, the IT index declined by 131.54 points, and the banking index fell by 130.61 points.
Notable gainers included Tata Motors DVR (3.31 per cent), Tata Motors (2.00 per cent), Bharti InfraTel (2.21 per cent), Asian Paints (1.57 per cent), Reliance (1.50 per cent), GAIL (1.09 per cent) and M&M (0.93 per cent).
Advertisement
On the sectoral front, PSU Banks fell by 1.74 per cent, followed by IT (1.37 per cent), Realty (1.08 per cent), Infra (0.80 per cent), Bank (0.59 per cent), Media (0.54 per cent) and Private Banks (0.42 per cent).
