Breaking a three-day gaining streak, key Indian equity indices -- the NSE Nifty50 and the BSE Sensex -- slipped on Friday as a sell off in the stocks of index heavyweight Infosys, coupled with negative global cues, hampered investors' risk-taking appetite.The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 66.75 points, or 0.67 per cent, to close at 9,837.40 points.The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 31,524.68 points -- down 270.78 points, or 0.85 per cent, from its previous close at 31,795.46 points.The scrip prices of Infosys witnessed the biggest fall in over four years in the wake of the resignation of Vishal Sikka as the IT major's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.Stocks of the IT major plunged 9.60 per cent on the BSE to close at Rs 923.10 per share, losing around Rs 22,467 crore in terms of market capitalisation intra-day."Infosys shares fell as much as 13 per cent, on way to their steepest intra-day percentage loss since April 2013," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index fell by 0.13 per cent, and the small-cap index by 0.49 per cent.
"Markets corrected on Friday after three sessions of gains. A recovery in the last hour of trade helped to curb the losses," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS."The weakness came on the back of weak global cues on rising doubts about US President Donald Trump's ability to deliver his economic agenda and suspected terror attack in Barcelona, Spain. Bulk of today's steep market slide was also triggered by a sharp fall in index heavyweight and IT major Infosys," he added.
On the currency front, the rupee closed on a flat note at 64.14 to a US dollar from its Wednesday's close. The currency markets were closed on Thursday on account of Parsi New Year.In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 2,182.12 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 584.59 crore."Indian indices were still headed for their sixth weekly gain in seven weeks, though they remain below the record highs hit on August 2. Top gainers on the NSE were Infratel, Eicher Motors and Hindustan Unilever, while top losers were Infosys, Sun Pharma and Zee," Desai added.Sector-wise, the S&P BSE IT index plumetted by 369.19 points, followed by healthcare index by 209.73 points and banking index by 193.91 points.On the other hand, the S&P BSE oil and gas index surged by 134.55 points, the FMCG index was up 75.75 points, and the consumer durables index by 37.85 points.Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Hindustan Unilever, up 2.13 per cent at Rs 1,199.70; Power Grid, up 1.55 per cent at Rs 222.85; Tata Consultancy Services, up 1.32 per cent at Rs 2,512.85; Bharti Airtel, up 1.21 per cent at Rs 421.60; and ITC, up 0.84 per cent at Rs 281.80.Major Sensex losers were: Infosys, down 9.60 per cent at Rs 923.10; Sun Pharma, down 3.81 per cent at Rs 470; NTPC, down 2.01 per cent at Rs 173.30; Coal India, down 1.52 per cent at Rs 243.30; and Lupin, down 1.40 per cent at Rs 940.75.