Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices declined in initial trade on Friday in a highly volatile trade as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines after a four-day rally in the markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 73.79 points to reach 60,575.59. The broader NSE Nifty dipped by 17.85 points to 17,897.20.
The BSE benchmark climbed by 348.8 points or 0.58 percent to settle at 60,649.38 on Thursday. The Nifty advanced by 101.45 points or 0.57 percent to end at 17,915.05. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,652.95 crore, according to exchange data.
From the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards. Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul traded lower, while Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted in the green. The US markets ended with significant gains on Thursday. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed by 0.41 percent to USD 78.69 per barrel.
"Markets may see a volatile opening as SGX Nifty has been witnessing sharp gyration even as key US indices bounced back sharply from the recent slump to end sharply higher in overnight trades. Going by the recent uptrend, there are chances that the Nifty could recapture the psychological 18,000 mark. FII buying of local shares has also continued and they bought shares to the tune of Rs 1,653 crore in yesterday's trades, while sluggish crude oil below USD 80 a barrel bodes well for India's economy," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said in his pre-market opening quote. He further said with the global macroeconomic scenario still looking extremely bleak and local markets having run sharply in recent sessions, profit-taking could be on the cards going ahead.
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