Mumbai June 1 (IANS) Profit booking as well as persistent outflow of foreign funds and a weak macro-economic indicator depressed the key Indian equity indices on Friday.
Market observers pointed out that uncertainty over the Reserve Bank s next move during the upcoming monetary policy review also hit the investor sentiments.
However a decline in crude oil prices and strengthened rupee arrested the fall.
Index-wise the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 10 696.20 points down 39.95 points or 0.37 per cent from the previous close of 10 736.15 points.
Similarly the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE which had opened at 35 373.98 points closed at 35 227.26 points -- down 95.12 points or 0.27 per cent -- from its previous session s close of 35 322.38 points.
On an intra-day basis the Sensex touched a high of 35 438.22 and a low of 35 177.35 points.
In the broader markets the S&P BSE mid-cap index declined by 1.01 per cent and the S&P BSE small-cap index ended lower by 1.57 per cent from it previous close. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 2 024 declines against 604 advances.
"Markets corrected on Friday after a positive morning session. Sentiments turned weak after the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell from 51.6 in April to 51.2 in May " said Deepak Jasani Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
Further on the currency front the Indian rupee strengthened by 35 paise against the US dollar to 67.06 from its previous close at 67.41 per greenback.
Investment-wise provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 202.80 crore while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 337.97 crore.
Sector-wise the S&P BSE auto index rose 163.71 points followed by the energy index which gained 7.9 points and the telecom index ended 5.23 points higher.
On the other hand the S&P BSE banking index fell by 226.40 points the capital goods index was down by 126.73 points and the IT index ended 126.67 points lower.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up 5.13 per cent at Rs 2 893.25; Maruti Suzuki up 3.01 per cent at Rs 8 792.15; Bharti Airtel up 2.73 per cent at Rs 384; Tata Motors (DVR) up 2.27 per cent at Rs 173.60; and Hero MotoCorp up 2.25 per cent at Rs 3 627 per share.
The top losers were Tata Steel down 2.62 per cent at Rs 560.35; ONGC down 2.48 per cent at Rs 172.95; Mahindra and Mahindra down 2.38 per cent at Rs 901.55; Hindustan Unilever down 1.96 per cent at Rs 1 582; and IndusInd Bank down1.95 per cent at Rs 1 910.10 per share.

--IANS rrb-rv/bg