Metal, banking scrips drag down equity gauges by 1.5 pc

Equity benchmark indices dipped by 1.5 per cent on Friday as traders booked profits over metals and banking counters.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 746 points or 1.5 per cent at 48,879 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 218 points or 1.5 per cent to 14,372.

Except for Nifty auto, which rose by 1.5 per cent and IT, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red. Nifty metal cracked by 3.7 per cent, private bank by 3.1 per cent, PSU bank by 2.9 per cent and realty by 2.6 per cent.

Among stocks, JSW Steel fell by 3.9 per cent to Rs 377.70 per share while Hindalco lost by 3.7 per cent and Tata Steel by 2.9 per cent.

Axis Bank was down by 4.5 per cent, ICICI Bank by 3.7 per cent, State Bank of India by 3.5 per cent, Reliance Industries by 2.3 per cent and Asian Paints by 4.2 per cent.

However, defying the overall trend, Bajaj Auto surged ahead by 11.23 per cent to Rs 4,119.25 per share after reporting 23 per cent hike in Q3 net profit at Rs 1,556 crore.

Hero MotoCorp accelerated by 3.9 per cent, Eicher Motors by 1.7 per cent and Tata Motors by 0.09 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian shares eased from record highs as investors pulled back funds after a recent rally that was driven by hopes a massive US economic stimulus plan by incoming President Joe Biden to help temper the Covid-19 impact.

Japan's Nikkei eased by 0.44 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped by 1.6 per cent. South Korea's Kospi fell by 0.64 per cent on profit booking.

( With inputs from ANI )