Sensex, Nifty continue downward trend; ONGC gains, SBI & IndusInd Bank decline

On Friday, Sensex closed down by 440.76 points or by 0.87 per cent at 50,405.32 levels while Nifty fell by 142.65 points or by 0.95 per cent to close at 14,938.10 levels. 

Investor sentiments remained sluggish on Friday due to weak global cues and rising bond yields. Metal, IT, banking & financial stocks were the major draggers. 

In the global markets, Asian indices such as Shanghai Composite index, Hang Seng, Nikkei, and KOSPI declined by 0.043 per cent, 0.47 per cent, 0.23 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively. In the European markets, indices such as DAX and CAC 40 were trading in red, down by 0.78 per cent and 0.59 per cent, respectively, whereas FTSE 100 was up by 0.22 per cent. 

Sensex gainers included ONGC that surged 1.95 per cent, Maruti Suzuki rose by 1.60 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank increased by 1.24 per cent, Nestle India gained 0.59 per cent, UltraTech Cement went up by 0.47 per cent, Titan Company inched higher by 0.29 per cent, etc. 

Sensex draggers were made up of IndusInd Bank that tumbled 4.79 per cent, SBI plunged 3.03 per cent, Power Grid inched lower by 2.13 per cent, Dr Reddy's Laboratories decreased by 1.86 per cent, NTPC fell by 1.85 per cent, ICICI Bank went down by 1.80 per cent, etc. 

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, the Metal index was the biggest loser that declined by 2.16 per cent, followed by BSE IT index that fell by 1.45 per cent. BSE Auto index also plunged 0.89 per cent. Meanwhile, BSE Energy and BSE Oil & Gas were the only two sectoral indices that ended in green today, up by 0.07 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively. 

In the broader markets, BSE Small-Cap index and BSE Mid-Cap index tumbled 1.50 per cent and 1.89 per cent, respectively.