Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty surrendered early gains to close with losses in a volatile session on Friday, snapping their two-day winning streak as investors pared exposure to realty, oil & gas, and healthcare stocks amid a mixed trend in global markets. Unabated foreign fund outflows also dented investor sentiment.
The 30-share BSE benchmark dropped 329.92 points, or 0.43 percent, to settle at 76,190.46. During the day, it slumped 428.63 points, or 0.56 percent, to 76,091.75. The NSE Nifty declined 113.15 points, or 0.49 percent, to 23,092.20.
In broader markets, the trend was negative. The Nifty SmallCap index fell 1.7 percent, while the Nifty MidCap index declined by 1 percent. Among sectors, Nifty Pharma was the worst performer, slipping over 1.5 percent.
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Zomato, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, and Bajaj Finserv were among the major laggards.
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Tokyo ended lower. The Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate to about 0.5 percent from 0.25 percent.
Markets in Europe were trading in the green. US markets ended higher on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump, on Thursday, addressed the World Economic Forum, where he offered business leaders low taxes if they manufacture their products in the US while threatening them with tariffs if they don’t.
Addressing the forum’s annual meeting here through videoconferencing, Trump also said he is going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down oil prices and asserted that if prices come down, the Russia-Ukraine war will end immediately.
Globally, food prices went through the roof, the president said, and he took immediate action to control inflation in America.
"I promise to eliminate 10 old regulations for every new regulation... I am going to pass the largest tax cuts in American history to help our people," he noted.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 5,462.52 crore on January 23 and remained net sellers on the 15th consecutive day, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,712 crore on the same day.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 percent to USD 78.50 a barrel.
In the previous session, the Sensex rose 115.39 points, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 76,520.38. The Nifty went up by 50 points, or 0.22 percent, to end at 23,205.35.
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