MUMBAI: The sensex and Nifty broke their five-day rising streak to close with slim losses on Friday, weighed by negative global cues and foreign fund outflows.
In a largely subdued session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 12.27 points or 0.02 per cent lower at 61,223.03. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slipped 2.05 points or 0.01 per cent to 18,255.75.
Asian Paints was the top loser on the Sensex chart, shedding 2.66 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, HUL, M&M, Wipro, HDFC and Bharti Airtel.
On the other hand, TCS, Infosys, L&T, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the prominent gainers, climbing up to 1.84 per cent.
The market breadth was negative, with 18 declines and 12 advances.
"The Indian market opened on a weak note following nervousness in global markets, however, it managed to erase most of its losses to close flat, supported by positive trends in IT, realty and healthcare sectors.
"Fed official's latest comment on a likely rate hike during March triggered selling in global equities. Globally, inflation worries worsened after the US reported a 40 year high CPI inflation reading while a slower rise in producer prices provided some relief," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex surged 1,478.38 points, or 2.47 per cent, while the Nifty gained 443.05 points or 2.48 per cent.
S Hariharan, head- sales trading, Emkay Global Financial Services, said, "Strong guidance from many members of US FOMC about hiking interest rates in CY22, alongside continuing high inflation prints globally, make for an adverse flow environment for equities in general."
"The reaction to strong results from frontline IT names appears to point to heavy pre-positioning in the market, and might be a recurring theme for the ongoing results season -- in that good results are priced in and fresh catalysts may be needed to push the ongoing rally further," he noted.
Sector-wise, BSE telecom, FMCG, healthcare, auto and bankex shed as much as 1.20 per cent, while capital goods, realty, industrials and IT posted gains.
In the broader markets, the BSE smallcap and midcap indices spurted up to 0.50 per cent.
On the domestic economic front, the wholesale price-based inflation bucked a 4-month rising trend in December 2021 and eased to 13.56 per cent, mainly on account of softening fuel, power and manufacturing items even though food prices hardened.
The country's exports in December 2021 surged 38.91 per cent on an annual basis to $37.81 billion due to healthy performance by sectors such as engineering, textiles and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to $21.68 billion during the month, government data showed on Friday.
World stocks tumbled after US Federal Reserve officials indicated rate hikes from March to rein in runaway inflation.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul ended in the negative territory.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also witnessing selling pressure in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.86 per cent to $85.20 per barrel.
The rupee on Friday slumped 25 paise to close at 74.15 against the US dollar.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,390.85 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.
