Global cues, profit booking pull Sensex down 167 pts

US domestic political developments along with profit booking dragged the Indian equity markets down on Friday.

Both the key indices -- the S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 -- declined by around 0.50 per cent.

The losses were led by the BSE Metal, Realty, Healthcare and Auto indices.

Index-wise, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 38,822.57, lower by 167.17 points, or 0.43 per cent, than its previous close of 38,989.74 points. It touched an intra-day high of 39,107.37 and a low of 38,782.60 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also declined and ended the day's trade at 11,512.40, lower by 58.80 points, or 0.51 per cent, than its previous close.

On the broader market level, the BSE midcap and smallcap indexes underperformed as compared to the Sensex and Nifty.

"The weakness came on the back of a fall in some key Asian markets and weak US markets overnight," said Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, at HDFC Securities.

Asian shares slipped to three-week lows on Friday as the release of a whistleblower complaint against US President Donald Trump added to uncertainties about the global economy, already reeling from the impact of the China-US trade war, he added.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, the market has maintained its sharp gap-up gains while mild profit booking was seen at the end of the week.

"A muted trend may happen in the short-term as the market is considering if RBI may change its stance given a deep cut in tax revenue impacting fiscal strength of the government. Bond yields are inclining marginally stating some concerns which were dovish last week," Nair said.IANS