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Domestic equity gauges Sensex and Nifty extended their losing run for the third session in a row on Friday as participants remained cautious tracking other Asian markets amid geopolitical uncertainties in eastern Europe.
After swinging about 700 points between gains and losses during the session, the BSE Sensex finally closed 59.04 points or 0.10 per cent lower at 57,832.97.
On similar lines, the NSE Nifty edged lower by 28.30 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 17,276.30.
The Sensex was dragged lower by mainly Ultratech Cement, M&M, Infosys, Reliance, Bajaj Finance and Nestle -- dropping as much as 1.88 per cent.
On the index, 17 shares closed in the negative zone.
Analysts said the Indian markets ended almost flat in line with range-bound Asian markets.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, "US stocks ended sharply lower on Thursday, as investors dealt with renewed fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine as the US and its allies accused Moscow of continuing to build up troop levels."
Investors hastened a move late in the session toward defensive sectors and safe havens such as US bonds and gold as geopolitical tensions between Washington and Russia over Ukraine flared, he added.
Other Asian markets too ended lower as investors weighed renewed US warnings of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine.
Rupee Rallies 39 Paise To 74.67 Against US Dollar
The rupee appreciated by 39 paise to 74.67 against the US dollar on Friday on hopes of a diplomatic solution to the East-West standoff over Ukraine.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 75.03 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.60 and a low of 75.05.
The rupee was quoted at 74.67 at 1530 hrs, registering a rise of 39 paise over its previous close 75.06. The rupee had closed the session on Thursday at 75.11 (provisionally) but later settled at 75.06.
The proposed US-Russia talks spurred optimism about the volatile geopolitical situation in Ukraine, said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
"Rupee recouped previous week and most of the current month losses amid long unwinding in dollar, lower crude oil prices and expectation of dollar inflows from LIC IPO," Parmar said, adding that foreign fund outflows and risk-averse sentiments could limit the gains in the rupee.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.05 per cent to 95.84.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.68 per cent lower at USD 91.41 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,242.10 crore, as per stock exchange data.
Gold Climbs Rs 77; Silver Jumps Rs 379
Gold prices rose by Rs 77 to Rs 50,037 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday, according to HDFC Securities.
In the previous trade, the yellow metal settled at Rs 49,960 per 10 grams.
Silver zoomed by Rs 379 to Rs 63,869 per kg, from Rs 63,490 per kg in the previous trade.
"Spot gold prices for 24 carat gold at Delhi were up by Rs 77, reflecting overnight gains in COMEX gold prices," Tapan Patel, senior analyst (commodities) at HDFC Securities, said.
In the international market, gold was trading 0.1 per cent lower at USD 1,896 per ounce and silver was flat at USD 23.94 per ounce.
