Sensex Slips 111 Points, Nifty Barely Holds 15,750; Reliance Plunges 7%

Indian equity benchmarks on Friday extended their fall to the third straight session, dragged by heavy losses in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and other energy stocks after the government imposed export duties on oil products.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India tanked up to 15.07 per cent.

The domestic indices, however, recovered from the day's low as a strong interest in consumer goods stocks countered losses in oil-sensitive stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 111 points or 0.21 per cent lower to close at 52,908 today, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 28 points or 0.18 per cent lower to settle at 15,752. Sensex swung in a band of 959 points during today's session.

Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a weak note as Nifty Midcap 100 tumbled 0.51 per cent and small-cap dropped 0.38 per cent.

One out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in the red. Sub-index Nifty Oil & Gas dived as much as 4.17 per cent.

However, Nifty FMCG showed strength by climbing 2.82 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, ONGC was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 13.30 per cent to Rs 131.40. Reliance, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto and Bharti Airtel were also among the laggards.

Though, the overall market breadth stood positive as 1,743 shares advanced while 1,537 declined on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, RIL, PowerGrid, Airtel, NTPC, Maruti, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's and ICICI Bank were among the top losers with their shares down as much as 7.14 per cent.

Further, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, rose 0.47 per cent to end at Rs 676.75.

In contrast, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Wipro and M&M finished in the green.