Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a bearish note on Friday, halting their eight-day rally, amid a weak trend in global markets. After beginning the trade on a negative note, the 30-share BSE Sensex further declined by 305.61 points to end at 62,978.58. The broader NSE Nifty dipped by 79.65 points to end at 18,732.85. The BSE benchmark had climbed by 184.54 points or 0.29 percent to settle at 63,284.19, its fresh record closing high, on December 1. The Nifty advanced by 54.15 points or 0.29 percent to end at 18,812.50, its new record closing high. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,565.93 crore on December 1, as per exchange data.
Among the Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints and Nestle were among the major laggards.
Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries and ITC were the winners.
Asian markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.
Wall Street had ended mostly lower on December 1.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.30 percent higher at USD 87.14 per barrel.
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