MUMBAI: Stock markets ended lower on Friday for the second day in a row on continued foreign fund outflows and losses in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India.
The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 55.47 points or 0.07% to end at 79,486.32 points. On the same day, the index fell 424.42 points, or 0.53%, to 79,117.37 points.
The NSE Nifty index fell 51.15 points, or 0.21%, to 24,148.20 points.
Among the 30 stocks on the Sensex, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the top laggards.
Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Nestlé and Hindustan Unilever were among the top gainers.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,888.77 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Investors remained cautious and markets continued to consolidate due to earnings disappointment and the flight of foreign institutional investors. The Federal Reserve continued its rate-cutting cycle to stimulate the economy.”
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower, while Tokyo closed higher. European markets were lower. Wall Street ended mostly higher Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.28% to $74.66 a barrel.
On Thursday, the BSE benchmark fell 836.34 points, or 1.04%, to end at 79,541.79 points. Nifty fell 284.70 points, or 1.16%, to end at 24,199.35 points.
