Indian stock markets fall owing to selling pressure in blue-chips stocks

The BSE Sensex opened on Friday at 28,129, touched an intra-day high of 28,156 and low of 27,965. The BSE Sensex fell by 45 points to end at 28,061.14. The Nifty opened at 8,722, hit an intra-day high of 8,724 and low of 8,664. It eventually ended at 8,697.60, down 12 points from its previous closing.

The fall in the Indian stock markets was mainly attributed to active selling in blue-chips stocks. Telecom, IT, oil & gas, consumer durables, banking, pharma and finance stocks witnessed significant selling pressure.

Major gainers in the BSE Index were Tata Steel,Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Lupin and Adani Ports. Meanwhile Asian Paints, Cipla , Infosys, HDFC and Bharti Airtel were among the top losers.

The rupee traded down 3 paise at 66.72 per US dollar.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed widening the definition of a branch to make it easier for banks to meet the norm of opening 25% banking outlets in unbanked rural centres.

Asian stocks were trading lower as investors looked ahead to a key employment report. Markets in China remained closed for the Golden Week public holidays. US stocks closed near the flatline on Thursday, as investors were cautious ahead of the much anticipated September jobs report.