Sensex trades lower, Nifty hovers around 9,300 on profit-booking

The benchmark indices on Friday continued to trade lower as investors booked profits in index heavyweights such as ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Bharati Airtel ahead of a long weekend, but were still on track to post their biggest weekly gain in six weeks.

At 2:53 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,939, down 90 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,305, down 36 points. 

In the broder market, the S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap indices outperformed to gain 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.  

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On BSE, 1,343 shares fell and 1,234 shares rose. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Nifty Realty index (down 1.5%) was the leading sectoral loser, led by losses in Indiabulls Real Estate (down 5%), Prestige (down 4%) and Delta Corp (down 2%).

The Nifty Bank fell 0.6%, snapping a five-session winning streak. HDFC and HDFC Bank were the biggest losers on the index, dropping over 1.5% each.

Public sector banks (PSBs), Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Vijaya Bank hit their respective 52-week highs on the NSE in an otherwise weak market.

Punjab National Bank (PNB), Punjab & Sindh Bank, Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Syndicate Bank gained anywhere between 3% and 5%, and were trading close to their 52-week highs.

Consumer goods and cigarettes maker ITC declined for a second day and was down 2.6% and was the biggest loser on the Nifty.

Among the losers, biopharmaceutical company Biocon fell as much as 3.4% after the company on Thursday reported a 62% plunge in March-quarter consolidated profit.

Overseas, Asian stocks slipped as investors booked profits after a strong week. South Korea's KOSPI index, which opened higher, reversed its gains and fell 0.2%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.15%.