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Indian equity shares plunged more than 1.6 per cent on Friday after earlier hitting a record high for a seventh session in eight, as ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda posted disappointing results, while Coal India fell on the government's discounted stake sale.
The NSE index shed 143.45 points or 1.6 per cent, snapping ten consecutive sessions of gains to post its biggest daily fall since a 3 per cent fall on January 6 in the midst of an emerging market sell-off.
Still, for the month the NSE gained 6.8 per cent, its best monthly performance since May 2014 when the market rallied after the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
The benchmark BSE index plunged 498.82 points 1.68 per cent to 29,182.95. It gained 6.1 per cent in January and added 0.3 per cent in the week.
ICICI Bank , India's biggest private sector bank, fell 5.2 per cent despite posting a record quarterly net profit after net non-performing assets rose.
Bank of Baroda, India's second-biggest lender by assets, slumped 11.1 per cent after it reported a 69 per cent fall in earnings.
Shares in Coal India Ltd were down 3.8 per cent after the government priced its sale of a stake at a 4.5 percent discount to Thursday's closing price.
Among BSE sectoral indices, bank index fell the most by 3.14 per cent, consumer durables 1.85 per cent, PSU 1.67 per cent and auto 1.21 per cent. On the other hand, realty index was up 2.17 per cent, followed by power 0.88 per cent, IT 0.2 per cent.
Overseas investors have remained the backbone of the rally, with net purchases of $2.1 billion so far this month till Thursday, provisional exchange and regulatory data showed.
"I think the fall was more to do with investors generating liquidity to participate in Coal India share sale. However, this will give more comfort in terms of valuations. We are cautiously optimistic," said Deven Choksey, managing director at KR Choksey Securities.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index advanced on Friday and headed for its best monthly performance in 5-1/2 years, with Germany’s DAX share index outperforming after encouraging retail sales data.
The DAX rose 0.6 per cent after German retail sales increased for a fifth consecutive year in 2014, rising by 1.4 per cent in real terms, reflecting the buoyant mood among consumers in Europe’s largest economy.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.3 percent at 1,477.75 points by 0808 GMT.
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