Sensex ends lower after 300-point swing; Nifty below 9,150

NEW DELHI: After trading in the positive territory for most of the session, the domestic equity indices ended lower owing to heavy selling in pharma and FMCG stocks.

On Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex shed 57 points to settle at 29,365.30 with ITC, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma being the major contributors to the fall in the index. The 30-share index, which opened at 29,575.66 against previous close of 29,422.39, hit an intraday high and low of 29,584.34 and 29,259.42, respectively.

Among key corporate events, HDFC Bank on Friday reported 18.25 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 3,990 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. It had posted a net profit of Rs 3,374.22 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The private sector lender also recommended a dividend of Rs 11 per equity share of Rs 2 for year ended March 31, 2017 against Rs 9.50 last year.

The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries regained its status as India's most valued firm by market capitalisation, overtaking Tata group's crown jewel TCS.

Kolkata-headquartered leading hosiery company Dollar Industries got listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at Rs 1,314 on Friday.

The Nifty50 closed lower for the sixth day in a row. The benchmark index settled at 9,119.40, down by 17 points.

Among individual stocks, shares of Max Financial Services declined as much as 5.49 per cent in early trade on Friday after 1.3 crore shares traded in two block deals at Rs 622-625 per share. The stock closed at 3 per cent lower at Rs 629.90 apiece.

On the other hand, shares of Diamond Power and Infrastructure tumbled over 6 per cent in Friday’s session after the smallcap firm said its losses widened to Rs 316.83 crore in March quarter.

Global stocks
In the commodity market, oil dipped and was set for the biggest weekly drop in a month over doubts that an Opec-led production cuts will restore balance to a market dogged by oversupply, whereas gold held steady, with safe-haven demand remaining intact as investors kept an eye on the upcoming French presidential vote that is seen as too close to call.

Among Asian stocks, Shanghai shares post their worst week in 2017 as tighter regulatory scrutiny and concerns over the broader economic outlook dampened investors' risk appetite.

The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.2 per cent to 3,466.79, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3,173.15 points.

European shares fell as French stocks came under pre-election pressure.