Sensex ends 170 points lower on weak Japanese cues, April PMI

Benchmark share indices ended lower, amid weak cues from Japan, after disappointing earnings from major corporates and a private survey showed slow down in April manufacturing output.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended down 170 points at 25,437 and the Nifty ended down 44 points at 7,806. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index ended up 1.1% and Smallcap index gained 0.4%.

Market breadth was negative with 1294 losers and 1165 gainers on the BSE.

"Weak global cues especially from the Japanese market and disappointing earnings from ICICI Bank among others has led to the weakness," said G Chokkalingam, Founder and Managing Director, Equinomics Research and Advisory.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in equities worth Rs 205 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

A private survey showed that India's manufacturing output rose at a slower pace in April as rise in new orders lost steam.

The Nikkei purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey showed that rate of manufacturing growth decreased to 50.50 in April from the eight-month high of 52.4 in March.

Further, a report by Standard Chartered indicated that India's GDP is likely to grow 7.4% during the current fiscal on the back of increased consumer spending, supported by pay commission awards and lagged impact of a good monsoon.

Globally, Japanese shares fell sharply after the yen gained against the US dollar. The benchmark Nikkei ended down 3.2%.

InterGlobe Aviation slipped 4.5% after the budget carrier posted a flat net profit of Rs 579 crore the fourth quarter on the back of rupee depreciation and pressure on yields owing to rising competition.

The airline in the same quarter last year the airline had recorded a net profit of Rs 577 crore.

Vedanta Group firm, THL Zinc Ltd, has sought a rollover of a controversial $1.25-billion loan, taken from the conglomerate’s cash-rich oil explorer Cairn India in July 2014.

The loan, which was extended for two years at floating rate of three per cent plus LIBOR, was to be repaid by July 2016. Vedanta surged nearly 7%.

Maruti Suzuki ended nearly 1% higher.

The car major reported a 16% jump in its domestic sales for April, the first month of financial year 2017.

The company sold 117,045 units in domestic market last month against 100,709 units in April 2015.