Indian equities edged lower on Friday, dragged by IT stocks, even as Asian shares recovered from a three-week low though concerns over trade negotiations between China and the United States lingered.
The Sensex ended 216 points lower at 40,359, while the Nifty50 index ended 52 points lower at 11,916. For the week Sensex was up 0.03 percent and Nifty rose 0.2 percent.
Among stocks, Tata Steel, Zee, JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, and NTPC were the top gainers on the Nifty50, while Bharti Infratel, Infosys, Asian Paints, UPL, and TCS led the losses.
Major selling was seen in the IT and banking sectors. Nifty IT cracked 2 percent, while Nifty Bank was down 0.7 percent. Nifty Fin Services and Nifty Private Bank index also fell 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, Nifty Media and Nifty Metal rose over 2 percent each during the day. Nifty Auto was also up 0.4 percent.
Nifty IT fell 2 percent amid H1B visa woes. Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, and Wipro was down between 1.8-3 percent.
Globally, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.12 percent after China said it was willing to work with the United States to resolve core trade concerns.
