Sensex, Nifty decline as oil explorers, banks lead fall

REUTERS - Indian shares ended lower on Friday as banking stocks declined on profit-booking after the government tweaked rules to help tackle accumulated bad loans that are choking new credit and hurting economic growth.

The NSE PSU bank index fell 1.76 percent, with State Bank of India declining 1 percent and Bank of India shedding 4.5 percent.

A fall in oil prices dragged down Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corp , which lost more than 2 percent each.

The broader NSE Nifty closed down 0.8 percent at 9,285.30, after hitting a record high earlier in the session, while the benchmark BSE Sensex ended 0.89 percent lower at 29,858.8.

 

The indexes posted their third weekly fall in four.

(Reporting By Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)