By IANS,
Mumbai : Continued selling of stocks across the board and particularly from consumer durables, auto and realty sectors pushed a key index of the Indian equities markets down over 2 percent Friday.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 15,440.95 points, ended trade at 15,160.24 points, down 353.79 points or 2.28 percent from its last closing figure.
Similarly, the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shut shop in the red at 4,481.4 points, down 2.27 percent.
Broader market indices, too, came under selling pressure with the BSE midcap index closing 2.27 percent down, while the BSE smallcap index ended 1.92 percent lower.
All 13 sectoral indices on the BSE closed in the negative, with consumer durables, auto, realty and banking stocks coming under heavy selling pressure.
The market breadth was negative with 748 stocks advancing, 1,922 declining and 78 remaining unchanged.
There were only three gainers on the Sensex: NTPC, up 0.71 percent at Rs.212.25; Tata Steel, down 0.31 percent at Rs.456.20; and Wipro, up 0.13 percent at Rs.498.90.
Among the 27 losers on the Sensex Thursday, the prominent ones were Reliance Communications, down 5.79 percent at Rs.254.75; Jaiprakash Associates, down 5.46 percent at Rs.218.15; M&M, down 5.41 percent at Rs.834.15; and Maruti Suzuki, down 5.33 percent at Rs.1,291.30.
According to data with the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors sold shares worth $51.8 million Friday.
In other Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, inched upwards at 10,412.09 points, up 0.23 percent from its last closing figure.
The Hang Seng, a primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, fell sharply, ending at 20,375.37 points, down 2.51 percent.
In Europe, key market indices were ruling weak, and were ruling 0.72-1.13 percent lower.
In Britain, the FTSE 100, was ruling 53.18 points or 1.13 percent lower at 4,637.35 points.
Its French peer, the CAC 40, was at 3,443.58 points, 34.25 points or 0.98 percent lower than its previous close, while the German index DAX too was in the red at 5,331.22, down 0.72 percent.
Futures of key US stock indexes were trading lower, pointing to a lower opening by the main indices, ahead of a governmental report giving out monthly job data.