Sensex, Nifty fall for 2nd day on losses in RIL, HUL

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex and Nifty ended lower for the second day in a row on Friday amid weak trend in the US markets and losses in index major Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 236.66 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 60,621.77. During the day, it fell 273.18 points or 0.44 per cent to 60,585.25.

The broader NSE Nifty went lower by 80.20 points or 0.44 per cent to end at 18,027.65.

From the Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Infosys and Bharti Airtel were the major laggards.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever fell nearly 4 per cent amid concerns over increase in royalty and central services arrangement fee to its parent Unilever group.

Power Grid, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.

European benchmarks were trading higher during mid-session deals. Markets in the US had ended lower on Thursday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.82 per cent to USD 86.87 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets and they bought shares worth Rs 399.98 crore, according to exchange data.