Sensex, Nifty trade lower, bank stocks fall

The BSE Sensex slipped over 137 points to 35,325.98 in early trade on Friday, on heavy selling in power, realty, oil & gas and banking stocks amid sustained capital outflows by foreign funds.

A deprecating rupee against the dollar also dampened the sentiment. Moreover, a decline in Asian stocks after the mixed close on Wall Street overnight and rising crude oil prices amid sustained capital outflows, influenced the sentiment here, brokers said.

Oil prices rose on Friday as Venezuela struggled to meet its supply obligations, and also due to the ongoing voluntary output cuts led by producer cartel OPEC.

Brent crude futures were at $77.45 per barrel, up 13 cents, or 0.20%. WTI crude futures were up 19 cents, or 0.30% at $66.14 a barrel.

The 30-share index dropped 137.10 points or 0.38% to 35,325.98. The gauge had gained 559.87 points in the previous two sessions.

The broader NSE Nifty too fell 50.65 points, or 0.47% to 10,717.70. Sectoral indices led by power, realty, oil and gas, banking, PSU, consumer durables and infrastructure were trading in the negative zone, falling up to 0.93%.

Major losers were power grid, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, RIL, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, Asian Paints, M&M, Hero Motorocorp, Bajaj Auto, SBI, NTPC, Wipro and Bharti Airtel, falling up to 2.05%.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 525.40 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,197.89 crore as per provisional data.

In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.20% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.30% in early trade. China’s Shanghai Composite index too was down 1.29%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.38% higher in Thursday’s trade