Sensex, Nifty Settle Marginally Lower Amid Weak Global Cues

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally down in a volatile trade on Friday following profit booking in financials and IT shares amid a weak trend in global equity markets.
     
Snapping its two-day gaining streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 30.81 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 58,191.29. During the day, it fell 370.95 points or 0.63 per cent to 57,851.15.
     
The broader NSE Nifty dipped 17.15 points or 0.10 per cent to end at 17,314.65. Among Sensex shares, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance and ITC were the major laggards.
     
On the other hand, Titan, Power Grid, NTPC, Maruti, IndusInd Bank and Asian Paints were among the winners.
     
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals. The US markets ended lower on Thursday.
     
"Prior to the release of the US jobs data, the domestic market traded with cuts in line with its global counterparts. Stronger-than-anticipated job data may lead to a market decline as it could give the Fed more reasons to focus on inflation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
     
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude futures climbed 0.48 per cent to USD 94.87 per barrel.
     
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 279.01 crore on Thursday, according to data available with BSE.