On Friday equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty stayed on the back foot for the fourth straight session, as investors offloaded healthcare, consumer durable and commodity stocks amid a weak trend in global markets.
Traders said that foreign fund outflows and heavy selling in HDFC shares also hit investor sentiments.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 221.09 points, or 0.33 per cent, to close at 66,009.15 after swinging roughly 500 points between gains and losses during the day. It reached a peak of 66,445.47 and a low of 65,952.83 during the day.
The Nifty declined 68.10 points or 0.34 per cent to end at 19,674.25.
After global financial firm JP Morgan said it plans to include Indian government bonds (IGBs) or government securities (G-Secs) into its Emerging Market index from next year, a move that will bring down borrowing cost for the government. The benchmark indices had climbed in the early trade.
Wipro was the top loser among Sensex firms, declining 2.32 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, ITC, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors.
IndusInd Bank, Maruti, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo closed in the negative territory while Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.
European markets were trading mostly lower. On Thursday the US markets ended in negative territory.
Accronding to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,007.36 crore on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.59 per cent to USD 93.85 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark fell 570.60 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at 66,230.24 on Thursday. The Nifty dropped 159.05 points or 0.80 per cent to end at 19,742.35.
