Sensex Falls 45 Points, Nifty Settles Below 8,700

Sensex ended Friday's range-bound session 45 points lower and the Nifty settled below the crucial 8,700 level as IT and energy shares came under selling pressure. Meanwhile, caution also prevailed ahead of a US jobs report due later in the day and the start of quarterly earnings season next week. 

Analysts expect non-farm payrolls to have risen by 175,000 last month from 151,000 in August, according to a Reuters survey of economists - a pick-up that could put pressure on the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. 

Investors were also girding themselves for the July-September quarter results, starting with software maker Infosys Ltd on October 14. 

"There is no positive trigger and the earnings season has just started," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research at SMC Global Securities. 

The Sensex finally closed 0.16 per cent lower at 28,061, while the Nifty50 index settled 12 points lower at 8,698. However, on a weekly basis both the indices closed higher. Sensex gained 0.7 per cent while Nifty added 1 per cent in the week. 

IT and energy shares were the prominent losers today. The Nifty IT sub-index of NSE fell 0.57 per cent while the Nifty Energy sub-index shed 0.5 per cent. 

Among Nifty stocks, Bharti Infratel was the top loser, down 2.73 per cent, after gaining 5.11 per cent in the last three sessions. Asian Paints, Eicher Motors, HDFC, Cipla and Infosys Were the other big losers in the Nifty. 

Meanwhile, Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Nifty, up 4.28 per cent. Tata Motors DVR, Zee Entertainment, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto were the other big gainers in the index rising between 2.1-3.75 per cent. 

Among the 51 stocks in Nifty, 19 stocks advanced while 32 shares declined.