The Sensex and the Nifty buckled under selling pressure for the sixth session on the trot on Friday as the pre-budget economic survey failed to cheer investors amid continued selling by foreign funds and a bearish trend overseas.
Both the benchmark indices fluctuated between gains and losses in a volatile session. The 30-share BSE Sensex crashed 588.59 points, or 1.26 per cent, to finish at 46285.77 — taking the six-session aggregate loss to 3506.35 points, or 7.04 per cent. Intra-day, the index swung 1263.20 points.
The NSE Nifty fell 182.95 points, or 1.32 per cent, to settle at 13634.60. Over the last six days, the NSE barometer has shed 1010.10 points or 6.89 per cent. On the Sensex chart, 26 shares closed in the red.
Analysts feel the continued pullback in domestic markets was mainly led by profit-booking ahead of the Union budget.
“The pace of recovery in the US and Europe has slowed down, having implications on Indian exports and FII inflows. The Budget will be the key to provide strength and perform better compared to the rest of the world,” said Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services.
