Upcoming US employment data, coupled with negative sentiments emanating out of the Chennai floods depressed Indian equity markets and led a barometer index to provisionally close 242 points down on Friday.
Initially, both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets opened on a negative note following weak Asian markets.
Sentiments were also depressed following flooding in Chennai that has impacted automobile and information technology (IT) industries' centres located there.
Besides Chennai floods, the upcoming key US-based macro economic data -- the non-farm payrolls figures -- are causing global volatility and impacting the Indian markets.
Even the slow movement on getting key economic legislations passed during the ongoing winter session has had investors' spooked.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) provisionally closed 242 points or 0.94 percent down.
Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day's trade in the red. It provisionally closed lower by 77.90 points or 0.99 percent at 7,786.25 points.
The Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 25,810.06 points, provisionally closed at 25,644.49 points (at 3.30 p.m.), down 242.13 points or 0.94 percent from the previous day's close at 25,886.62 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 25,810.06 points and a low of 25,623.71 points during the intra-day trade.
On Thursday, the Sensex of the BSE closed 231.23 points, or 0.89 percent down following heightened chances of a US rate hike and the lower-than-expected stimulus package from the European Central Bank (ECB) through its bond buying program.
Analysts elaborated that the markets continued to trade in the red after Thursday's comments made by US Federal Reserve (US Fed) chairperson Janet Yellen, which heightened the chances of a US rate hike in mid-December.
A US rate hike could potentially lead to massive amounts of pull-back of foreign funds from emerging economies like India.
