Two key Indian equity indices -- the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- slipped during the mid-afternoon trade session on Friday on the back of North Korea's missile launch over Japan along with profit booking in banking, capital goods and metal stocks.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE slid to red after six consecutive sessions of trading with gains.
At 12.45 p.m., the Sensex, which opened at 32,207.63 points, traded at 32,197.51 points -- down 44.42 points, or 0.14 per cent, from its previous close at 32,241.93 points.
It has so far touched a high of 32,245.28 points and a low of 32,138.38 points in the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bearish -- 1,489 declines and 895 advances.
Around the same time, the wider 51-scrip Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 26.60 points, or 0.26 per cent, to trade at 10,060 points.
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"BSE Sensex dropped by over 68 points in opening trade today, breaking its six-session winning streak due to profit booking in power, metal, consumer durables and healthcare stocks amid weak Asian leads after North Korea launched another missile over Japan," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.
"Top gainers on the NSE were ONGC, Infratel and Infosys, while top losers were Power Grid, Sun Pharma and Vedanta," he added.
On Thursday, the benchmark indices closed on a flat note with healthy buying in healthcare and banking stocks.
The Nifty50 was up 7.30 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close at 10,086.60 points, while the Sensex closed at 32,241.93 points -- up 55.52 points, or 0.17 per cent.
--IANS
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