Indian equities ended on a weak note after strong U.S. jobs growth has spurred fears that the Federal Reserve may start scaling back its money stimulus programme.
The weak India rupee, which declined to a two-month low of 63 to a dollar, also spooked investor sentiments.
At close, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 175.19 points (0.85 per cent) at 20,490.96 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 61.95 points (1.01 per cent) at 6,078.80.
“Weaker Rupee against dollar and profit booking were the main reason for today’s fall. Also trade deficit for October came on higher side. All these factors further dampened market sentiment,” said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior-Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
All sectoral indices, with the exception of healthcare, IT and TECk, lost ground. Among them, realty, capital goods, PSU and power indices declined by 2.81 per cent, 2.43 per cent, 1.78 per cent and 1.51 per cent, respectively.
Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, Maruti, TCS and Infosys were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were Hindalco, L&T, ONGC, SBI and Tata Motors.