Sensex Falls: Private Bank Shares Drag Market Down

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) Benchmark Sensex declined by nearly 466 points on Friday in its second straight day of losses following selling in private banks and a weak trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 465.75 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 83,938.71. During the day, it dropped 498.8 points or 0.59 per cent to 83,905.66.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell by 155.75 points or 0.60 per cent to 25,722.10.

Foreign fund outflows, mixed corporate earnings and the lack of clarity on the US Federal Reserve's future rate action continued to hurt investor sentiment, analysts said.

From the Sensex firms, Eternal, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Trent and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards.

However, Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC and State Bank of India were the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled in positive territory, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading in the red. US markets ended in negative territory on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,077.59 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, were the buyers, as they bought equities worth Rs 2,469.34 crore in the previous trade.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.31 per cent to USD 64.80 a barrel.

On Thursday, the Sensex tanked 592.67 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 84,404.46. The Nifty tumbled 176.05 points or 0.68 per cent to 25,877.85.