Sensex, Nifty Edge Lower Dragged By Losses In Banking Shares

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Larsen & Toubro were among the biggest drags on the Sensex.

The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower in trade on Friday dragged by losses in heavyweight stocks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Larsen & Toubro. The Sensex fell as much as 246 points and Nifty 50 index fell close to its important psychological level of 14,800. As of 9:24 am, the Sensex was down 207 points at 49,538 and Nifty was down 60 points at 14,813. Eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty FMCG index's over 1 per cent gain. Nifty PSU Bank, Pharma, Metal and Realty sector gauges were also trading with a positive bias. On the flipside, Nifty Bank, Private Bank and Financial Services indexes were down around 1 per cent each.