Indian equities were lackluster on Friday's trading and the markets finally ended lower. The indices were dragged by losses in shares of banks, metals and real estate companies. The BSE Sensex ended down 166.58 points or 0.84% at 19,727.27 and NSE Nifty closed down 49.05 points or 0.83% at 5833.20.
The concerns expressed by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan over inflation also weighed on the stocks. The market operators are cautious ahead of the current account data due on Monday.
The S&P BSE Bankex ended lower by 210.39 points or 1.83% at 11,284.26 and Bank Nifty closed down 1.97% or 198.50 points at 9899.75. Yes Bank ended lower at Rs. 302.50 (-4.21%), Kotak Bank at Rs. 682.80 (-2.93%)SBI at Rs. 1,627.50 (-2.90%), ICICI Bank at INR 923.30 (-2.62%). Out of 12 stocks in Bank Nifty, only PNB was a gainer with the stock closing up 0.42% or Rs. 2 at Rs. 478.05.
BPCL was the major gainer in Nifty with the stock closing at Rs. 327.85, up by 6.03% after the company's JV in Brazil announced a huge oil find. HCL Technologies (+2.40%), Sun Pharma (+1.62%), Coal India (+1.20%) and Hero Motocorp (+1.05%) are the major gainers in Nifty. BHEL (-5.61%), JP Associates (-5.59%), Tata Steel (-4.52%), DLF (-2.99%) were the major losers in Nifty.