Stocks see second weekly fall as Fed rate hikes odds rise

Equities declined, led by lenders and software as investors refrained from taking fresh bets before Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech later Friday.

YES Bank fell the most in a month, while State Bank of India and ICICI Bank lost about one per cent each. Wipro and HCL Technologies declined at least 2.4 per cent. Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, rallied the most in two weeks, and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra ended a four-day decline.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 Index slid 0.2 per cent at the close after changing direction at least 10 times. The gauges capped their second weekly decline as investors pull back risk before a speech by Yellen that may provide clues on when the US, the world's largest economy, will raise interest rates. Above-average stock valuations also prompting some investors to avoid taking fresh bets, according to Ambit Investment Advisors.

Foreign funds have bought a net $5.8 billion of local shares this year, the most in Asia after Taiwan and South Korea, as capital flows to emerging markets accelerated amid a wave of global policy easing. That's helped the benchmark gauges rebound at least 21 per cent from their lows in February, and sent a gauge of small- and-mid cap companies to a record.

Meanwhile, the share prices of the three listed rating agencies in India - Credit Analysis and Research (CARE), Icra and CRISIL - increased after the Reserve Bank of India announced measures to develop the corporate bond market. Investors lapped up the shares of these rating agencies in Friday's trade on the hope that their revenues would get a boost with bond issuances likely to soar following the new norms.