Sensex drops 247 points; oil shares drag

Markets have snapped seven day winning streak on sustained selling in energy and IT shares with Reliance contributing the most to the decline after one of its employees was arrested by the Delhi Police for illegally sourcing government documents.

Provisionally, the Sensex ended 247 points lower at 29,215 whereas the Nifty slipped 67 points to close at 8,828. 

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(updated at 3.30PM)

Benchmark indices continue to trade lower weighed down by index heavyweight shares like RIL, ICICI Bank and Infosys.  However, gains among BHEL, ITC and Tata Motors have capped the downside.

Further, investors have also turned cautious ahead of the Union Budget to be presented in the forthcoming week.

By 14:40, the Sensex was lower by 144 points at 29,318 whereas the Nifty has slipped 35 points at 8,861.

However, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.4-1%.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1542.70 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 195.74 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Japanese stocks rose to a fresh 15-year high on Friday with the dollar boosted by upbeat U.S. data, but continuing uncertainty over the Greek debt negotiations weighed on the euro.

US weekly jobless numbers released overnight proved better than expected, diffusing some of the pressure on the dollar that followed dovish-sounding minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting. The minutes had dented expectations for an early interest rate hike by the Fed, driving U.S. debt yields and the dollar lower.

Japan's Nikkei climbed to a fresh 15-year high and was last up 0.3%.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, IT and TECk indices are down 1-2%. However, BSE Realty and FMCG indices are up 1%.

The main losers on the Sensex are RIL, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Wipro.

Reliance Industries is the top Sensex loser down 2.7% amid reports that one of its employees was arrested by the Delhi Police for illegally sourcing government documents. Further, reports suggest that the company has also issued a separate clarification stating that it has launched an internal probe after coming to know that one of its employees has been detained by law enforcement authorities.

IT stocks are trading weak in today’s session. Infosys has lost around 1.2%, TCS is down 0.4% while Wipro has shed around 1.3%. TCS has been recognised as the fastest growing IT services brand globally over the last five years by Brand Finance which assesses the dollar value of the reputation, image and intellectual property of the world's leading companies.

On the gaining side, BHEL, ITC, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Hindalco and SBI have gained 1-4%..

BHEL is up over 4% on renewed buying interest at lower levels. The stock has witnessed profit taking after it hit a 52-week high of nearly Rs 299.50 early this month.

Among other shares, Mastek has surged over 12% to Rs 445 after the company said its US susbidiary Majesco, USA ( formerly known as MajescoMastek) has filed Form S-4, a Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933, with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of United States of America, for the proposed merger of Cover-All Technologies Inc. with Majesco and listing of Majesco on NYSE-MKT.