New Delhi: The key domestic equity benchmarks on Friday settled in the red, halting a five-day winning streak amid weak global cues and rising cases of Covid.
The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 12 points to close at 61,223, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 2 points to settle at 18,256.
Sensex recovered more than 450 points from its intra-day low of 60,757 before settling a bit lower. However, losses in private banks and select heavyweights such as HUL and Bharti Airtel held it from ending in the green zone.
TCS, Infosys, L&T, Tech M, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers on the Sensex platform, while Tata Consumer Products, IOC, BPCL, and Adani Ports were the additional gainers on the Nifty. All these stocks gained between 1 and 4 per cent.
On the downside, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, UPL, HUL, ONGC, M&M, and Nestle India were the top laggards.
Midcap and smallcap shares finished on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index slightly declined 0.02 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.75 per cent.
In the previous session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 85.26 points or 0.14 per cent higher at 61,235.30. Similarly, the NSE Nifty advanced 45.45 points or 0.25 per cent to 18,257.80.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul were trading with heavy losses in mid-session deals.
Asian stocks dropped on Friday after a raft of Federal Reserve officials signalled they will combat inflation aggressively and the Nasdaq 100 fell to its lowest level since October, Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.
“US stocks closed down on Thursday, as a rebound in technology shares stalled out, snapping a three-day winning streak for the Nasdaq Composite,” he added.
Stock exchanges in the US ended on a negative note in the overnight session.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.15 per cent to $84.34 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,390.85 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.