Sensex down 98 points

Lupin slumps over 9%

A weak trend continued for a third straight session, as market benchmark Sensex fell 98 points to 25,301.90 in choppy trade on Friday on sustained foreign fund outflows and selling by domestic investors after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) tightened guidelines to check any misuse of P-Notes.

Besides, further weakness in rupee, which depreciated 14 paise to 67.50 against the dollar during the day after minutes of US Federal Reserve's April meeting hinted at the possibility of a June rate hike, hit trading sentiment. On a weekly basis, both the indices - Sensex and Nifty - fell 187.67 points or 0.73 per cent and 65.20 points or 0.83 per cent, respectively.

Markets regulator Sebi yesterday made rules tougher on controversy-ridden P-Notes, making mandatory for all end-users of these overseas instruments to follow anti-money laundering law in India and asked their issuers to report any suspected breach immediately.

"Market participants were worried about the flow of foreign funds into India after Sebi tightened norms for issuers and subscribers of offshore derivative instruments (ODIs) or participatory notes for the purpose of enhancing the transparency and control over the issuance of ODIs," said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager - Equities, BNP Paribas MF.

After hitting the day's high of 25,506.06, the 30-share Sensex slipped into the red to hit a low of 25,251.90 before settling 97.82 points or 0.39 per cent down at 25,301.90.

The gauge had fallen 379.89 points in the previous two sessions.

Among Sensex stocks, drug major Lupin topped the losers by slumping 9.10 per cent, despite the company witnessing a 47.5 per cent growth in consolidated net profit.

In broader markets, small-cap index fell 0.83 per cent and mid-cap slumped 0.49 per cent.

Globally, Asian bourses ended the week on a positive note as oil prices rebounded and investors continued to weigh the impact of a possible US rate hike as early as June.

For the day, benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and China's Shanghai Composite Index ended higher by up to 0.94 per cent.

European markets too were higher with key indices in France and the UK rising by up to 1 per cent.