Mumbai Feb 16 (IANS) Indian equity markets on Friday closed in the negative territory for the third consecutive session as heavy selling pressure in banks auto capital goods and metal stocks along with rising crude oil prices dampened investors risk-taking appetite.
Market observers said macro-data which indicated widening trade deficit in the country coupled with continued outflow of foreign funds dented investors sentiments.
On a closing basis the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) declined by 93.20 points or 0.88 per cent to 10 452.30 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 34 010.76 points -- down 286.71 points or 0.84 per cent from its previous close.
The BSE market breadth was bearish as 2 145 stocks declined as against 667 advances.
In terms of the broader markets the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed lower by 1.20 per cent and the small-cap index by 1.22 per cent.
"Markets corrected sharply on Friday after failing to cross the recent highs in the morning session. Market sentiments were weak due to a jump in India s trade deficit in January " Deepak Jasani Head - Retail Research HDFC Securities told IANS.
"Also a rise in global crude oil prices affected the market sentiment. Major Asian markets were closed due to a holiday barring the Nikkei index which ended on a positive note while European indices like FTSE 100 DAX and CAC 40 traded in the green " he added.
Official data released on Thursday evening revealed that India s exports plunged by 9.80 per cent to $24.38 billion in January from $27.03 billion worth of merchandise shipped out in December 2017.
The data showed that the country s imports during the month under review declined by 2.93 per cent to $40.68 billion in January 2018 from $41.91 billion in December 2017.
Vinod Nair Head of Research Geojit Financial Services said: "Market slid despite a positive trend in global market. The alleged fraud in PNB (Punjab National Bank) dented investor s optimism on banks and expect that the scam may extend to some other banks."
Following a $1.8 billion fraud detected by PNB shares of Gitanjali Gems plunged almost 20 per cent while those of PNB closed lower by over 2 per cent.
On the currency front the Indian rupee weakened by 30 paise to close at 64.21 against the US dollar from its previous close at 63.91.
In terms of investments provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 1 065.99 crore while domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 1 127.78 crore.
All the sub-indices of the BSE closed in the red barring the S&P BSE IT index which rose by 8.65 points.
Sectorwise the S&P BSE auto index receded by 414.48 points followed by banking index by 335.88 points capital goods by 258.50 points metal index by 242.75 points and oil and gas index by 187.14 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Kotak Bank up 1.04 per cent at Rs 1 051.75; Infosys up 0.96 per cent at Rs 1 124.85; Dr Reddy s Lab up 0.83 per cent at Rs 2 212.75; Asian Paints up 0.62 per cent at Rs 1 143.70; and Tata Consultancy Services up 0.39 per cent at Rs 2 937.20.
Major Sensex losers were: State Bank of India down 2.55 per cent at Rs 271.75; Yes Bank down 2.52 per cent at Rs 311.90; ICICI Bank down 2.31 per cent at Rs 321; Bharti Airtel down 2.07 per cent at Rs 419.45; and Maruti Suzuki down 2 per cent at Rs 8 840.
--IANS
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