After four consecutive sessions of gains, the Indian equity markets closed on a nominally lower note on Friday as investors booked profit; the key indices, however, touched fresh intra-day highs.
The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) breached the 9,900 mark for the first time to record an intra-day high level of 9,913.30 points.
Sensex touched a record high of 32,109.75 points during intra-day trade. On Thursday, the index breached the 32,000 point mark for the first time.
According to market observers, heavy selling pressure in index heavyweights such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Motors pulled the indices lower.
However, some losses were trimmed on the back of healthy macro-economic data which showed that India's annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices was dragged lower to record low levels of 0.90 per cent in June due to a massive contraction in food prices.
On a closing basis, the NSE Nifty slipped by 5.35 points or 0.05 per cent to close at 9,886.35 points.
The Sensex ended at 32,020.75 points—down 16.63 points, or 0.05 per cent, from its previous close at 32,037.38 points.
The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,701 declines and 996 advances.
In terms of the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap index rose 0.22 per cent, whereas the BSE small-cap index fell by 0.35 per cent.
"Markets ended with marginal losses on Friday due to profit booking ahead of the weekend. A bounce back from the low of 9,845 helped the Nifty to recover some of the morning losses," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
"Major Asian markets have ended on a positive note, barring the Taiwan index. European indices like the DAX and FTSE 100 traded lower."
On the currency front, the rupee closed flat at 64.45 to a US dollar.
In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased scrip worth Rs 673.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) divested stocks worth Rs 136.27 crore.
"Nifty, Sensex closed flat for Friday. Recent listings like AU Small Finance Bank, Eris Life sciences, Hudco and CDSL crashed 5-11 per cent intra-day after sharp rally in the last few sessions that lifted these stocks to new highs," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.
"Top gainers in the NSE were Auro Pharma, Gail, ACC, NTPC and Infratel, while the losers were IOC, TCS, Wipro, Tata Motors and Tata Motors (DVR)," he added.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE IT index declined by 96.68 points, the capital goods index by 93.55 points and the consumer durables index by 78.27 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE healthcare index rose by 129.65 points, the oil and gas index by 92.09 points, and the banking index by 79.44 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: NTPC, up 2.02 per cent at Rs 167.05; Kotak Bank, up 1.61 per cent at Rs 977; State Bank of India, up 1.04 per cent at Rs 291.60; Cipla, up 0.96 per cent at Rs 547.35; and Reliance Industries, up 0.80 per cent at Rs 1,531.05.
Major Sensex losers were: TCS, down 1.85 per cent at Rs 2,398.80; Wipro, down 1.78 per cent at Rs 259.50; Tata Motors, down 1.42 per cent at Rs 451.90; Coal India, down 1.14 per cent at Rs 250.55; and Tata Motors (DVR), down 1.11 per cent at Rs 272.75.
