Sensex, Nifty End Modestly Lower As Private Banks Decline

Indian shares ended modestly lower on Friday, after having hit record highs in the previous session.

Traders opted to book some profits as crude prices continued to rise in international markets and investors awaited the release of a key U.S. inflation reading later in the day for clues on when interest rates may be cut.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex hit a high of 79,671 before reversing course to end the session down 210.45 points, or 0.27 percent, at 79,032.73.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty index hit a high of 24,174 before closing at 24,010.60, down 33.90 points, or 0.14 percent, from its previous close.

IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank fell 1-2 percent in the Nifty pack while SBI Life, Hero MotoCorp, Reliance Industries, ONGC and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories rallied 2-3 percent.

Second-line stocks were in demand, with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes rising 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Ambuja Cements advanced 1.4 percent after its board approved merger of Adani Cementation with the company.

BHEL gained 1.2 percent on bagging an order worth Rs 13,000 crore to set-up 1600 MW-thermal power project in Jhankhand.

Market Analysis