The benchmark equity indices continued to trade lower on Friday as reports of tension in West Asia impacted investor sentiments. Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. weighed the most amid weak global cues. Intraday, the benchmarks declined nearly 1% amid investor concerns that the West Asia turmoil might escalate to war. As of 12:08 p.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 76.15 points or 0.35% lower at 21,919.70 and the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 253.11 points or 0.35% down at 72,235.88.
During the day, the Nifty slumped as much as 0.99% to 21,777.65, while the Sensex fell 0.93% to 71,816.46.
"Safe-haven currencies, gold and crude oil jumped after reports of a sharp escalation in Middle East conflicts," Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox, said.
The Indian market looks set to extend recent losses on Friday as upbeat US economic data and hawkish comments from more Fed officials poured cold water on rate-cut hopes, Bagkar said.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd. weighed on the Nifty.
HDFC Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Grasim Industries Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd., limited losses in the index.
All the 12 sectors on the NSE were trading in the red, with the Nifty Realty falling the most.
The broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE MidCap fell 0.97% and the BSE SmallCap declined 0.65%.
All the sectors on the BSE were trading in negative, with Realty emerging as the top loser.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the sellers as 2,380 stocks declined, 1,195 rose and 130 remained unchanged on the BSE.
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