Equity benchmark indices fell in early trade on Friday. Because of the weak trends in global markets and soaring crude oil prices.
Foreign fund outflows also weighed on investor sentiments.
Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 320.63 points to 65,308.61. The Nifty fell 106 points to 19,518.70.
Among the Sensex companies, Hindustan Unilever traded more than 1 per cent lower after the company posted a marginal decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,657 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 amid subdued rural demand and heightened competitive intensity.
HCL Technologies, ITC, Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement and Asian Paints were among the other major losers.
The gainers are Nestle, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the negative territory.
The US markets closed lower on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.90 per cent to USD 93.21 a barrel.
According to exchange data Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,093.47 crore on Thursday.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Finacial Services said “The US 10-year yield hovering around 5 per cent continues to be a headwind for equity markets. The volatile situation in West Asia, though being largely ignored by the market now, can pose additional near-term challenges.”
The BSE benchmark fell 247.78 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 65,629.24 on Thursday. The Nifty dropped 46.40 points or 0.24 per cent to 19,624.70
