Sensex, Nifty end lower for second straight session; consumer durables, IT shares sink

Indian equity market ended lower for the second consecutive session today, tracking a sell-off in Infosys and Reliance Industries along with weak global equities. Sensex fell 84.88 points to end at 56,975.99. During the session, it tanked 648.25 points or 1.13 per cent to 56,412.62. Nifty declined 33.45 points or 0.20 per cent to end at 17,069.10.

Titan, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Maruti, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro and SBI were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.95 per cent. IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Power Grid, Tata Steel, HDFC and ITC were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 4.17 per cent. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 19 ended lower.

Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 265.88 lakh crore.

BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices slumped 114 points and 250 points, respectively.

The market breadth was negative with 1235 shares ending higher against 2228 stocks falling in the red. 181 shares were unchanged. Consumer durables shares and IT stocks were the top sectoral losers with their BSE indices falling 1010 points and 470 points, respectively.

Persistent foreign capital outflows also dented investor sentiment, forex traders said.

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth Rs 3,648 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.

Share Market update: Sensex falls 85 pts, Nifty holds 17K; Titan, Wipro, TechM top losers

Meanwhile, rupee pared initial gains to settle almost flat against the US dollar as subdued domestic equities offset the impact of a sharp decline in global crude oil prices. The rupee settled at 76.51 against the dollar, showing a marginal fall of 1 paisa.

Benchmark equity indices on Friday ended lower due to fag-end selling in Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys. Sensex plummeted 460.19 points or 0.80 per cent to end at 57,060.87 despite a firm opening. During the day, it hit a high of 57,975.48 and a low of 56,902.30. Nifty tanked 142.50 points or 0.83 per cent to 17,102.55.

Axis Bank, Power Grid, Wipro, State Bank of India, Maruti, Titan and NTPC were among the major laggards on Sensex. Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and Dr Reddy's were among the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul and Tokyo settled lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.

Bourses in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon session.

Stocks in the US had ended significantly lower on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 2.61 per cent to $104.3 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 3,648.30 crore on Friday, after they turned net buyers on Friday, according to stock exchange data. Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday for Eid-Ul-Fitr.