Sensex, Nifty on Friday: Twenty three stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index closed higherDomestic stock markets finished nearly unchanged on Friday, a day after government data showed that retail inflation soared to a five-month high of 5 per cent in June.
BSE benchmark index Sensex closed6 points lower at36,541 while the NSE Nifty lost 4 points to settle at 11,018.
A selloff witnessed in PSU banks, FMCG and pharma stocks led the declines, despite gains in other Asian markets.
The markets lost steam a day after the Sensex registered an all-time closing high of36,548.Annual retail inflation rose 5 per cent in June, but was below market expectations, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.
June was the eighth straight month in which inflation was higher than the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 per cent.Public sector lenders took a hit, with the Nifty PSU bank index dropping 2.1 per cent.
State Bank of India slipped 2.1 per cent while Bank of Baroda fell 1.2 per cent.HCL Technologies shares declined 2.3 per cent, a day after the software services exporter approved a buyback proposal on Thursday.However, an uptick in oil prices pushed energy stocks higher, which limited the downside in the markets.Reliance Industries gained 1.7 per cent.Infosys Ltd, which is due to report results later today, closed 2.2 per cent higher."Only select large caps held the markets up today is the second consecutive day when mid caps were under performing the large caps by over 1 per cent,"said Viral Berawala, CIO, Essel Mutual Fund.TheNifty Midcap 50 index declined 1.3 per cent.Losses on the index were led by Jindal Steel, Engineers India, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and Bank of India, which finished between 3.7 per cent and 5.4 per cent lower.Asian markets took a breather from concerns around escalating US-China trade war, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.56 per cent higher.The Sensex and Nifty closed higher for the second straight week.The BSE Sensex advanced 2.5 per cent while the Nifty rose 2.3 per cent on a weekly basis."The activity for the major part of the week was very encouraging; but, last couple of days was slightly shaky if considered some weakness in the broader market.
Hence, we believe that we may not have a smoother ride going ahead, especially in the first half of the forthcoming week," said Sameet Chavan, chief analyst-technical and derivatives at Angel Broking.(With inputs from Reuters)