After a choppy trading session markets corrected to close in the red on Friday amidst investor nervousness owing to the Iraq crisis, weak monsoon fears and high inflation.

The benchmark Sensex closed at 25,106, down 96 points or 0.38 per cent. The Nifty settled at 7,511 mark, down 29 points or 0.39 per cent.

On the BSE, barring realty, consumer durables, IT and tech sector all other sectors closed in the negative led by auto and healthcare which closed lower by 0.91 and 0.95 respectively. The major gainer in the sectoral front was the consumer durables sector which rallied the highest to close up by 3.47 per cent.

Alex Mathews, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Service said: "After opening with a green note, the markets were seen trading in a range shifting in between gains and losses. The overall markets health was negative as there were seen 1250 stocks advancing against 1720 stocks declining."

"It was yet another choppy day on Friday as the Indian equity market ended with losses for third consecutive trading session. Prolonged selling pressure in the healthcare, auto, power and the capital goods stocks dragged the Nifty below 7500 mark. However it was for short while as Nifty just managed to close above the psychological level," added Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.

The INDIA Vix was up 0.6 per cent at 19.

Mc Dowell, Cairn, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and DLF were among the top gainers on NSE, whereas M&M, Tata Power, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, NMDC, Infosys, TCS and Hindalco were among the losers today.

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