Sensex Slips Over 100 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,300; Cipla, Wipro, Tech Mahindra Top Drags

New Delhi: The Indian equity indices on Friday traded lower led by selling pressure in information technology and pharma stocks during opening deals. As of 9:21 am, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 129 points or 0.22 per cent to 57,763; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 31 points or 0.18 per cent down to 17,274.

Asian markets slipped after an exchange of fire in eastern Ukraine and renewed U.S. warnings of an imminent Russian invasion had investors looking for safety ahead of the weekend.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones' 1.8 per cent fall was its worst session of the year, the S&P 500 fell 2.1 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 2.9 per cent.

Back home, mid-and small-cap shares were trading on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 index edged 0.06 per cent lower and small-cap shares shed 0.21 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, Cipla was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 1.42 per cent to Rs 915. Wipro, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and Infosys were also among the laggards.

In contrast, Coal India, UPL, NTPC, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Maruti Suzuki India were among the gainers.

On BSE, the overall market breadth was slightly weak as 1,232 shares were advancing while 1,296 were declining.

On the 30-share BSE platform, Wipro, TechM, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Nestle India, HCL Tech and Asian Paints attracted the most losses with their shares sliding as much as 1.39 per cent.

Sensex had dropped 105 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 57,892 on Thursday; Nifty had moved 18 points or 0.10 per cent lower to end at 17,305.