Sensex, Nifty Decline For Second Straight Session Dragged By Banks

Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Private Bank index's 0.7 per cent fall.

The Indian equity benchmarks extended losses to second straight session on Friday dragged by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Axis Bank. The benchmarks opened lower and traded with a negative bias on the back of weak global markets. Asian shares stumbled to two-month lows on Friday as confidence took a battering over the global spread of the Delta virus variant and worries it could stall a worldwide economic revival. The Sensex fell as much as 341 points and Nifty 50 index briefly fell below its important psychological level of 15,650. The Sensex ended 183 points lower at 52,386 and Nifty 50 index fell 38 points to close at 15,690. Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Private Bank index's 0.7 per cent fall. On the other, metal shares witnessed strong buying interest as the index of metal companies on the NSE jumped 2 per cent. Pharma, Realty, Media and select FMCG shares also witnessed buying interest.