The Sensex and Nifty ended little changed on Friday as tensions following another missile launch by North Korea dampened the sentiment with profit-booking seen in recent outperformers such as banks and pharma stocks.
The benchmark BSE index gained for a seventh straight session, ending up by 30.68 points or 0.1 per cent at 32,272.61. The index gained 1.8 percent for the week. The broader NSE index ended down by 1.2 points or 0.01 per cent at 10,085.40 but finished the week with a 1.5 per cent gain.
Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index was up 1.04 per cent, followed by TECk 0.77 per cent, metal 0.29 per cent and oil & gas 0.28 per cent. On the other hand, power index fell 0.9 per cent, realty 0.49 per cent, capital goods 0.36 per cent and banking 0.35 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were ONGC (+4.71%), Bajaj Auto (+3.19%), Coal India (+1.94%), Infosys (+1.83%) and Wipro (+0.65%), while the major losers were Dr Reddy's (-1.77%), ITC (-0.92%), NTPC (-0.77%), State Bank of India (-0.68%) and Tata Motors (-0.66%).
Asian shares ex-Japan and US stock futures dipped after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, demonstrating the reclusive state's defiance in the face of intensifying sanctions.
“The market sentiment is subdued following (North Korea's) missile launch and also consolidation seems to be happening across sectors, including pharma and banks,” said Gaurang Shah, head investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
European shares too were in negative in early trade today following an explosion on an underground train at a busy station in southwest London.