Equity indices dip by 0.5 pc, banking and financial stocks plunge

Equity benchmark indices slipped by nearly half a per cent during early hours on Friday due to weakness in Asian peers and selling pressure led by banking and financial stocks.

Equity benchmark indices slipped by nearly half a percent during early hours on Friday due to weakness in Asian peers and selling pressure led by banking and financial stocks. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 180 points or 0.47 percent at 37,960 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 60 points or 0.53 percent at 11,156.

Except for Nifty pharma which moved up by 0.4 percent, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty financial service down by 1.7 percent, private bank by 1.5 percent, metal by 1 percent, and auto by 0.5 percent. Among stocks, home loan lender HDFC dipped by 2.7 percent at Rs 1,824.65 per share while Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HDFC Bank lost by 2.5 percent, 1.7 percent, and 1.6 percent respectively.

The other prominent losers were Tata Consultancy Services, Hindalco, Coal India, Bharti Infratel and UPL. However, index heavyweight Reliance Industries advanced by 4.25 percent to Rs 2,145.25 per share. Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy's were up by 3 percent and 0.2 percent while IT majors Wipro and Infosys showed marginal gains.

Meanwhile, Asian shares slipped from six-month peaks as US-China tensions soured. Chinese blue chips retreated by 2.9 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan lost by 1.3 percent. Tokyo was closed for a holiday but Nikkei futures were trading 250 points below the cash close.