Sensex sheds 152 points; Nifty ends at 9,575

The NSE index ended lower for a fourth straight session on Friday, its longest losing streak since mid-April, due to profit-booking by investors ahead of the GST launch on July 1.

Caution is however likely to prevail in the near term as the country gears up to unveil a nationwide goods and services tax on July 1.

The broader NSE index closed down 55.05 points or 0.57 per cent at 9,574.95, its lowest close since May 25. The index fell 0.14 per cent for the week.

The benchmark BSE index ended lower by 152.53 points or 0.49 per cent at 31,138.21 but posted a 0.26 per cent gain for the week.

All BSE sectoral indices ended in the negative zone. Among them, auto index fell the most by 1.54 per cent, followed by PSU 1.5 per cent, oil & gas 1.13 per cent and consumer durables 1.09 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were Sun Pharma (+0.97%), Wipro (+0.86%), ICICI Bank (+0.71%), Dr Reddy’s (+0.71%) and Cipla (+0.39%), while the major losers were Tata Motors DVR (-2.2%), Tata Motors (-2.14%), Hero MotoCorp (-1.95%), State Bank of India (-1.94%) and ONGC (-1.56%).

“There will be some consolidation in the market once it has run up so sharply,” said Shibani Kurian, senior vice president and head of equity research at Kotak Mutual Fund.

The Nifty PSU Bank index dropped as much as 1.2 per cent. Shares of State Bank of India fell as much as 2.1 per cent after gaining in the last five sessions.

The Nifty Auto index fell as much as 1.3 per cent. Maruti Suzuki was down as much as 1.5 per cent after gaining in the last two sessions, while Bajaj Auto Ltd shed 1 per cent.

Shares of Electrosteel Steels Ltd slipped as much as 7.9 percent, while Bhushan Steel Ltd fell as much as 10 per cent after a media report said that lenders have decided to start insolvency proceedings against the companies, along with Essar Steel.

Markets will be closed on Monday for a public holiday.

Asian shares

Asian shares flatlined on Friday but remained on track for a weekly gain, while crude oil prices pulled away from this week’s 10-month lows.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly unchanged on the day, and was up 0.4 per cent for the week.