Equities fell for a second straight session today as the BSE Sensex gave up all of its early gains to end lower by 90 points at 27,746.66 on widespread fag-end selling amid weaker opening in the European markets.
Things changed dramatically in the last one hour as profit-booking emerged and Europe-based shares opened lower following the failed coup attempt in Turkey at the weekend.
The first half was upbeat, driven by better-than-expected earnings jump by Reliance Industries. Shares of the firm rose to a high of Rs 1,039 intra-day, but later on profit-booking it fell to end the session 0.82 per cent down at Rs 1,004.25.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever shares fell 2.04 per cent to Rs 920.45 after company reported lower-than-expected 3.6 per cent revenue growth for the first quarter.
"Market has already factored in the passage of GST bill, hence it is waiting before the start of the discussion. Additionally, the start of Q1FY17 result has been subdued which is creating extra volatility in the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
Sensex started-off on a strong foot and regained the 28,000-mark to hit a high of 28,013.50. However, on selling in key bluechips it slipped to a low of 27,697.69, before settling 89.84 points or 0.32 per cent lower at 27,746.66.
The NSE Nifty finished 32.70 points or 0.38 per cent down at 8,508.70. It shuttled between 8,587.10 and 8,494.35.
The broader markets too depicted a weak trend as retail investors locked-in gains. The BSE mid-cap index fell 0.62 per cent and small-cap index shed 0.48 per cent.
Shares of of telecom operator, Idea Cellular plunged by 6.52 per cent to Rs 103.90 after company announced up to 67 per cent reduction in 4G and 3G BIG internet packs rates.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks mostly closed higher, showing little reaction to a failed coup in Turkey, although investors responded to a data out of China suggesting that the country's housing market was expanding at less frenetic pace.
Most of the European stocks were trading lower as investors digested a number of geopolitical events including the failed coup in Turkey. Asian indices like Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan gained 0.12 per cent to 0.68 per cent while China fell 0.35 per cent.
European indices like France and Germany fell 0.40 per cent and 0.19 per cent, respectively, while the UK rose 0.35 per cent.
Back home, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained net
buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,461.26 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.
In the domestic market, 20 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended lower while 10 ended higher.
Major losers were, ONGC (4.97 pc), Bharti Airtel (3.98 pc), HUL (2.04 pc), Tata Steel (1.94 pc), Cipla (1.56 pc), SBI (1.25 pc), GAIL (1.20 pc), HDFC (1.11 pc), Adani Ports (1.11 pc), RIL (0.82 pc), Dr Reddy's (0.78 pc) and Larsen (0.70 pc).
However, Bajaj Auto rose 2.51 per cent followed by Axis Bank 0.94 per cent and Infosys 0.88 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, telecom dropped by 3.23 per cent, followed by oil&gas 1.61 per cent, realty 1.32 per cent, energy 1.10 per cent, metal 1.04 per cent, consumer durables 0.96 per cent and capital goods 0.63 per cent.
The market breadth was weak as 1,640 stocks declined 1,092 rose and 181 ruled steady of the total 2,913 stocks.
Total turnover fell to Rs 3,033.87 crore from Rs 3,913.55 crore on Friday.
