The all-pervading negative sentiment resulted in another day of significant losses on the bourses as FIIs continued to sell stocks to book profits.

On Friday, the Sensex lost 288.46 points or 1.54 per cent from its previous close to end the day at 18,395.97. NSE's Nifty too lost 1.64 per cent to close the day at 5,512.15, down 92 points from its previous close.

“The selling seen today was more delivery-based and FIIs were seen booking profits,” said Mr K. Anant Rao, CEO, Kurtosis Analytics & Advisors.

“With FIIs already taking a view that interest rates are expected to go up in the future, all interest-rate sensitive stocks in the large-cap space were battered the most, he added. Banking, NBFC and auto stocks fared the worst.

In fact, all the indices on the NSE and BSE closed in the red. The only exception was India VIX (volatility index), and a rise in the VIX is no good news either. The volatility index rose 2.2 per cent from its previous close.

FIIs were net sellers of equity to the tune of Rs 707 crore while DIIs were marginally in the positive zone, buying equity worth Rs 81.24 crore in the net. Retail investors on the BSE were net buyers for Rs 60.85 crore.

“I did some cherry picking today in the Nifty stocks,” said Mr Ashish Choudhury, a retail investor. “I would surely buy some good quality large cap stocks if the markets go down further as they would be available at a cheaper price.”

Since the start of 2011, FIIs have sold equities for a net of Rs 7,983 crore. The same trend has been displayed by ‘proprietary books' who sold Rs 186 crore in the net during the same period. Proprietary trades are done by brokers on their own behalf.

The Sensex scrips have seen a 10.5 per cent erosion in market capitalisation since the year started and 11 per cent since the index touched the 21,000-levels during the Diwali of 2010.

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