Market benchmarks gave up intra-day gains to close in the red for the sixth session on the trot on Friday, capping a bruising week which saw a massive dash for safety amid rate hikes by global central banks and fears of slowing growth.
Investors were further hemmed in by unrelenting foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices.
After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 135.37 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at an over one-year low of 51,360.42.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty lost 67.10 points or 0.44 per cent to end at 15,293.50.
Titan emerged as the top laggard among the Sensex constituents, skidding 6.06 per cent, followed by Wipro, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, L&T, UltraTech Cement and PowerGrid.
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, HDFC Bank and Tata Steel were among the gainers, spurting up to 2.63 per cent.
"With central banks' policy tone pointing towards continued rate hikes of higher magnitude, we can expect FIIs to maintain their selling spree. The domestic market will continue to trade with high volatility in the near term.
"However, the ongoing corrections are opportunities in disguise for medium to long-term investments," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex plunged 2,943.02 points or 5.42 per cent, while the Nifty shed 908.30 points or 5.61 per cent.
Over the last six sessions, equity investors have lost a whopping Rs 18.17 lakh crore, with the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms standing at Rs 2,36,77,816.08.
"For the last few weeks, the capital market has witnessed substantial outflows. On the global front, the US Fed hiked the interest rates by 75 bps which was expected to somehow control the current scenario. The RBI has taken proactive measures by trying to balance the ongoing surge in inflation and growth.
"Considering the increase in capital expenditure and better credit growth for the banks, India's economy is considered to be less risky as compared to other emerging markets in the long term. The foreign institutions surely have more faith and confidence in India's growth story and the current exodus of cashflows will eventually slow down over the coming weeks," said Manoj Purohit, Partner & Leader - Financial Services Tax, BDO India.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined by 0.88 per cent on Friday, while the midcap index dipped 0.68 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas fell the most by 3.07 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.68 per cent), energy (1.86 per cent), healthcare (1.60 per cent), consumer discretionary goods & services (1.59 per cent) and utilities (1.57 per cent). Finance, bank, metal and realty ended in the green.
Global markets were mixed on Friday but were on course to post their worst week since the pandemic-scarred March 2020 as policy tightening by central banks have raised fears of crimping consumption and economic growth.
In Asia, markets in Tokyo and Seoul ended lower, while Hong Kong and Shanghai posted gains.
European bourses were trading in the green in mid-session deals. Stock exchanges in the US ended sharply lower on Thursday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.96 per cent to USD 120.96 per barrel.
The rupee pared initial gains to settle just 1 paisa higher at 78.09 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,257.65 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.
