Sensex ends in red after 8 days
Photo: BCCL
The BSE Sensex, which paused after hitting record highs in previous sessions, closed down 416 points or 0.66 percent at 62,869. The NSE Nifty fell 116 points or 0.62% to 18,696.
The breadth on the Sensex favored sellers as 21 shares closed in the red.
“With IT stocks supporting the bulls well this week, we are witnessing price action in specific themes in the small and mid-cap space today. Wall Street focused on tires, pipes and sugar on a day when auto stocks dragged down the index on the release of monthly data. sectors, which have been boosted by positive news as many stocks are hotly sought after in these sectors,” said S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Equities.
Globally, investors will be keeping a close eye on U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later in the day, which is likely to show the weakest job growth in nearly two years in November.
Data on Thursday showed U.S. job vacancies fell and manufacturing activity contracted, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of rate hikes at its December policy meeting.
Asian stocks fell and U.S. Treasuries held gains on Friday ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data, the next big test as investors look for more signs of a shift in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy, while the dollar fell sharply.
In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7%. Still, the index was on track for a weekly gain of 3.6%, hovering near its highest level since mid-September. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.7%.