MUMBAI: Widespread selling sent the Sensex down 961 points (1.2%) on Friday, and the 30-share index closed at 81,287 points with banks leading the decline. Uncertainty over tariffs, the sale of foreign funds, and the lack of noticeable progress in the Iran-US talks have left investors nervous and hitting the sell button ahead of the weekend.Foreign funds led the selling with a net outflow of Rs 7,536 crore for the day. Combined with the net sale of Rs 2,429 crore on Thursday, the total in just two sessions is close to Rs 10,000 crore.On the NSE, the Nifty lost 318 points or 1.3% to close at 25,179 points. Today’s market decline has made investors Rs 5 lakh poorer, as the BSE’s market capitalization now stands at Rs 463.5 lakh crore.According to Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of research at Religare Broking, in Friday’s market, the selling was quite broad across sectors.
“Investor sentiment was weakened by a combination of factors including inconsistent foreign flows, weak global signals and ongoing geopolitical tensions. In addition, the weak performance of some heavyweights across sectors exacerbated the decline.” Of the 30 Sensex components, 25 closed in red.
ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel contributed the most to the index’s decline today.In the broader market, the advance-decline ratio was not as skewed as in the Sensex.
BSE data showed that compared to 2,633 stocks that declined, there were 1,574 stocks that rose.Wall Street refusesWall Street’s major indexes fell on Friday as concern over artificial intelligence weighed on technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 602 points, or 1.2%, to 48,897 points, the Standard & Poor’s Index lost 46 points, or 0.7%, to 6,863 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 226.6 points, or 1%, to 22,652 points.