Markets extend losses, Sensex falls below 59,800 in morning trade

MUMBAI [India] - The domestic equity markets on Friday extended losses in morning trade due to selling pressures in banking stocks. Though the global stocks' key indices were up, it failed to lift domestic stocks. BSE Sensex dropped below 59,800 level as it declined 479 points to 59,637.06 while NSE's Nifty 50 fell 141 points to 17,750.60 in morning trade on Friday.

The Nifty traded below the 17,700 level. Bank stocks declined for the third consecutive session. On the BSE, 824 shares rose, and 2355 shares fell. A total of 134 shares were unchanged.

Among the bank stocks, Bandhan Bank shares were down 2.96 per cent, ICICI Bank fell 2.85 per cent, Punjab National Bank was down 2.61 per cent, Bank Of Baroda dropped 2.39 per cent, HDFC Bank declined 2.33 per cent while shares of SBI were down 2.23 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank was also down 1.31 per cent.

Among the indices, Bank Nifty fell 2.33 per cent, Nifty Oil & Gas dropped 3.88 per cent, Nifty Metal dipped 0.53 per cent while Nifty Realty dropped 0.36 per cent while Nifty Auto and Pharma rose 1.64 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up 5 points, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 11 points, China's Shanghai surged 24 points while S and P increased 24 points. In European markets, FTSE grew 16 points, CAC and Deutsche were trading in the green on Friday.

On Thursday, the US announced its GDP which grew 2.9 per cent during the December quarter. US' real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 per cent, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The increase in real GDP reflected increases in private inventory investment, consumer spending, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and non-residential fixed investment that were partly offset by decreases in residential fixed investment and exports, according to the US Department of Commerce.