Sensex falls 230 points as investors turned cautious

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Friday, dragged by selling in banking, utility and financial stocks as investors turned cautious ahead of key macro data.

Besides, a mixed trend in global equity markets and unabated foreign fund outflows also hit investors' sentiment, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 230.05 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 81,381.36.

During the day, it declined 307.26 points or 0.37 per cent to a low of 81,304.15.

The NSE Nifty slipped 34.20 points or 0.14 per cent to 24,964.25. It hit an intraday low of 24,920.05.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Power Grid, Axis Bank and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones were among the laggards.

The government is scheduled to release IIP data later in the day.

On the other hand, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Titan were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Hong Kong were closed in green territory, while Shanghai and Seoul ended in the red.

Global oil benchmark Brent Crude fell 0.77 per cent to $78.79 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,926.61 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,878.33 crore, according to exchange data.