Markets end lower amid weak global cues

Markets closed in the red on Friday, amid weak Asian and European cues coupled with the selling pressure in index heavyweights and financials.

The Sensex closed 133 points lower at 18,625 and the Nifty was down 41 points at 5,664.

Asian shares fell sharply on Friday as disappointing earnings from large corporations raised worries over economic growth slowdown.

Shares in Japan witnessed profit taking after they recently touched four-week highs.

The Nikkei ended down 1.4%. The Shanghai Composite was down 1.7%, Hang Seng dropped 1.2%.

The KOSPI was down 1.7% cent after lower-than-expected from global electronics major Samsung.

European shares opened lower following a weak session in Asia as lacklustre earnings from tech giant Apple undermined confidence ahead of American growth data due later on Friday. CAC, DAX and FTSE lost 0.3-0.6%.

Back home, among the sectoral indices on the BSE, Consumer Durables, FMCG,Healthcare, PSU, Power and Bankex were among the top losers down 1-3% each.

However, Auto Index was the sole gainer up 0.8% led by Mahindra and Mahindra,Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries closed down 1.4%

on profit taking after recent gains.

In the FMCG space, ITC witnessed profit booking and was down 2% along with Hindustan Unilever which slipped on concerns of slowdown in volume growth.

Earlier in the day, HUL reported that the underlying volume grew by 7% in September 2012 quarter as compared to 9% in June 2012 quarter.

Financials were down on reports that the central bank is unlikely to ease key policy rates at its second quarter monetary policy review on Tuesday in wake high inflation. HDFC, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 0.7-1% each.

Meanwhile, ICICI Bank, breezed past street estimates with better-than-expected earnings as standalone net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 climbed 30% from a year earlier to Rs 1,956 crore driven by higher interest income and stable net interest margin.

Punjab National Bank dipped 7% after reporting lower than expected 12% year-on-year fall in net profit at Rs 1,065 crore for the second quarter ended September 2012 due to higher provisioning for bad loans.

Analyst on an average had expected profit of Rs 1,209 crore from state-owned bank.

The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down nearly 1% each.

Market breadth continued to remain weak with 1,801 losers and 1,030 gainers on the BSE.