Equities declined, led by lenders and software as investors refrained from taking fresh bets before Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s speech.
Yes Bank fell the most in a month, while State Bank of India and ICICI Bank lost about 1% each.
Wipro and HCL Technologies declined at least 2.4%.
Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, rallied the most in two weeks, and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra ended a four-day decline.
The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 Index slid 0.2% at the close after changing direction at least 10 times.
The gauges capped their second weekly decline as investors pull back risk before a speech by Yellen that may provide clues on when the US, the world’s largest economy, will raise interest rates.
Above-average stock valuations also prompting some investors to avoid taking fresh bets, according to Ambit Investment Advisors.
Foreign funds have bought a net $5.8bn of local shares this year, the most in Asia after Taiwan and South Korea, as capital flows to emerging markets accelerated amid a wave of global policy easing.
That’s helped the benchmark gauges rebound at least 21% from their lows in February, and sent a gauge of small- and-mid cap companies to a record.
The Nifty ended the week at 8,572.55, approaching a key support level of 8,500 from which it has bounced back three times since July 1.
The gauge could fall as low as 8,250 if it falls below the 8,500 level, Kush Ghodasara, founder at Luvkush Finserve, said by phone. Tata Motors gained 2%, paring the weekly loss to 1.2%. Land Rover’s slowest growth in deliveries in three quarters dragged down profit at parent Tata Motors.
Profit declined to Rs.2,240 crore in the three months ended June from Rs.5,230 crore a year earlier, Tata Motors said in a statement yesterday. The stock has rallied 29% this year.
Meanwhile the rupee yesterday erased all the gains and was trading little changed against the US dollar, as traders turned cautious ahead of the speech from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen.
Traders are also waiting for the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the June quarter due on August 31.
According to Bloomberg analyst estimates, GDP may be at 7.5% compared with 7.9% in the March quarter.
The rupee closed at 67.0587 per dollar, up 0.01% from its previous close of 67.055. The rupee opened at 67.01 per dollar and touched a high of 66.99, a level last seen on 19 August.
The 10-year bond yield was trading at 7.129%, compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.123%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The rupee is down 1.34% till date this year, while foreign institutional investors have bought $5.83bn in equity and sold $1.23bn in debt markets.
Asian currencies were trading mixed. The Indonesian rupiah gained 0.227%, South Korean won gained 0.176% and Japanese yen was up 0.090%.
However, China offshore was down 0.214%, Hong Kong dollar 0.009% and China renminbi fell 0.186%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 94.664, down 0.11% from its previous close of 94.772.
