Sensex dips 170 points; Nifty 70 points amid weak auto, realty sector

Key equity indices ended in the red after heavy selling pressure in the final hours of the trade session on Friday, with realty sector losing over 4 per cent and the auto stocks closing 3 per cent lower. The selling pressure intensified after Maruti Suzuki reported its third quarter results which missed estimates. The auto major's net profit declined by 17 per cent, leading to a dip of over 7 per cent in the auto major's stock.

The BSE Sensex lost 169.56 points or 0.47 per cent to close at 36,025.54. It touched an intra-day high 36,474.48 and a low of 35,953.15 points. The Nifty50 slipped below the 10,800-mark, down 69.25 points or 0.64 per cent at 10,780.55.

Stocks-wise, Yes Bank gained the most on the Sensex, followed by HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Vedanta. In contrast, Maruti Suzuki turned out to be the top loser on Sensex with 7.40 per cent fall. Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors (DVR), ICICI Bank and Asian Paints declined in the range of 2 to 4.23 per cent.