The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Friday mirroring losses in other Asian markets. Selling pressure in private sector banking, metal, financial services and auto stocks dragged the benchmarks lower. The Sensex fell as much as 264 points to 51,061.19 and Nifty 50 index declined as much as 76 points to 15,043. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance were among the top drags on the Sensex.
As of 9:26 am, the Sensex was down 217 points at 51,107 and Nifty 50 index slipped 64 points to 15,055.
Selling pressure was visible across the sectors as eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Metal index’s 1.4 per cent fall.