The benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex trimmed their early losses by close on Friday. The Sensex ended at 25,269.64 points, down 72.22 points or 0.28 per cent lower. The Nifty was trading at 7,713.05 at the close, down 23.35 points or 0.33 per cent.
The top gainers on the BSE were BHEL (up 2.77%), ITC (2.42%), Larsen & Toubro (1.82%), Axis Bank (1.12%), NTPC (0.89%) and ICICI Bank (0.87%). The laggards were Bharti Airtel (down 4.46%), TCS (2.61%), ONGC (2.79%), GAIL (2.44%), Adani Ports (2%), and Dr Reddy’s (1.86%).
The Sensex ended Thursday's session up 3.28 points or 0.01 per cent at 25,341.86 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 3.2 points or 0.04 per cent at 7,738.40.
Among the sectoral indices, the top gainers were realty (up 2.97%), capital goods (1.24%), FMCG (1.01%), power (0.77%), consumer durables (0.70%) and industrials (0.54 per cent) . The biggest losses were recorded by telecom (down 2.4%), technology (1.23%), oil and gas (1.24%), IT (1.01%) and metal (0.69%) indices.
Earlier, the markets opened the session in the red following weak global cues due to an increase in jobless claims in the US. The Nifty opened 20 points down at 7718, while the Sensex opened 40 points down at 25302.
A report by SMC Global said "Asian shares and the dollar started the new quarter on a downbeat note today as caution ruled ahead of surveys on global manufacturing and the latest reading on US jobs. US stocks finished one of their best-performing months since last October with a whimper, as the main benchmarks closed marginally lower Thursday. US initial jobless claims climbed to 276,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's un-revised level of 265,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 266,000. The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged up to 263,250 from the previous week's un-revised average of 259,750."
The forex and money markets are closed today for annual accounts closing.