Another day of red for the stock markets: Sensex, Nifty end 1% lower

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty tanked more than 1% on Friday due to heavy selling in IT, financial and oil stocks in line with weak trends in the global markets. The 30-share Sensex tanked 671.15 points to close at 59,135.13, as 21 of its scrips declined. The index opened lower and slid further to touch a low of 58,884.98 in the day.

The broader Nifty plunged 176.70 points or 1 per cent to close at 17,412.90, with 35 of its stocks ending in the red. The index moved in a range of 17,324.35 to 17,451.50 during the session.

Among Sensex shares, HDFC Bank fell the most by 2.58 per cent, followed by SBI (2.12 per cent), HDFC (2.09 per cent), and IndusInd Bank (2.02 per cent).

Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, L&T, Reliance, Infosys and TCS were among the major losers.

In contrast, Tata Motors, Maruti, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and Titan were among the gainers.

Heavy selling in financial, banking, IT and capital goods shares triggered by weak Asian markets and overnight losses in the US market dragged down the benchmark indices, analysts said.

Global stock markets declined on Friday ahead of a US job market data amid worries about possible interest rate hikes.