Slower growth in industrial output brought the fear element back for investors today as both stock benchmarks lost nerve and ended with sizeable losses.
The decline -- close to 1 per cent for the Sensex and the Nifty -- was all but pervasive across sectors.
Caution ruled ahead of CPI inflation data slated for later in the day.
The positive start soon gave way to nervousness as the BSE index cracked below 33,000, but finally ended at 33,033.56 -- a three week low -- down 281 points, or 0.84 per cent.
The barometer rose a cumulative 95.75 points in the past two sessions.
The NSE Nifty settled the day lower 96.80 points, or 0.94 per cent, at 10,224.95 after shuttling between 10,334.15 and 10,216.25 during the day.
"Domestic investors turned cautious giving more weight to slowdown in IIP to 3.8 per cent, geopolitical tensions in the Middle-East and continued advancement in crude prices. Despite significant tax relief at the recent GST council meet, expectation of rise in CPI and WPI inflation added to the cautiousness," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.
Industrial production (IIP) grew at a slower pace of 3.8 per cent in September 2017 compared to 5 per cent in September 2016 and 4.5 per cent in August this year, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed on Friday.
The rupee had its own share of travails, which lost as much as 35 paise against the dollar during the day on fears that the tax rate decision of the GST Council will have a revenue implication of Rs 20,000 crore annually.
Investors also kept an eye on Brent crude prices and the fast-developing West Asian crisis.
Asian and European markets were not inspiring either. US stocks on Friday too closed lower hit by fears of a delay in corporate tax cuts.
With this decline, total market capitalisation of BSE listed companies shrank by Rs 31,876 crore to Rs 143.8 lakh crore.
Adani Ports sank the most, down 4.11 per cent, after its logistics arm reported a dip in quarterly earnings. ONGC, Coal India, HDFC and L&T also ended on the losers' side.
Idea Cellular was also down 3.61 per cent after the telecom operator logged a consolidated net loss for the September quarter.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) dumped shares worth a net Rs 529.22 while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,920.87 crore last Friday, according to provisional data.
In sectoral play, telecom fell the most losing 1.94 per cent, followed by metal, consumer durables and capital goods.
Broader markets lay low too as small-cap and mid-cap indices fell by up to 0.41 per cent.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
