Halting the six-day gaining streak, BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 closed lower on Thursday due sell-off in key financial heavyweights such as HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints and Kotak Mahindra Bank, of the index. The 30-share Sensex fell 129 points or 0.38 per cent to end the session at 33,980, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed the trade at 10.029, down 33 points or 0.32 per cent. Among top losers on the Sensex, Asian Paints fell nearly 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, among others. “Since the near-term oscillators still remain in buy mode, the index could record a minor reaction or slip into a consolidation zone. We expect the index to find support around the zone of 9650 – 9850 on near-term basis,” said Arun Kumar, Market Strategist at Reliance Securities.

Bank stocks drag: Nifty Bank index slipped over 2.5 per cent weighed down by Bandhan Bank, RBL Bank, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The banking index which was driving gains for the last few days was the biggest loser in today’s trade. “In the second half, telecom stocks lead the recovery and Indies managed to curtail the losses by more than 70% for the day,” said Vishal Wagh, Head of Research, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.

Nifty Private top sectoral loser: Nifty Private Bank index dropped over 3 per cent while Nifty Financial Services index fell 2.64 per cent dragged by Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, Bajaj Finace and HDFC. Technical glitch strikes NSE: Error in the price feed of Bank Nifty contracts impacted the trading activity. “The normal exchange feeds for Banknifty options were not right due to an issue at NSE,” Zerodha said in a tweet.

Bharti Airtel gains nearly 4%: US-based Amazon is reportedly in talks with Bharti Airtel to buy equity stake worth as much as $2 billion in Sunil Bharti Mittal’s telecom firm, Reuters reported. In April this year, social media giant Facebook announced to buy a 9.99 per cent equity stake in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore.

Market outlook for Friday: In the broader market, mid-caps and small-caps ended flat as their sectoral indices on BSE closed 0.06 per cent and 0.05 per cent lower. “This pause is largely on the expected lines and we may see further consolidation ahead. However, we feel Nifty could make another attempt to test 10,250 levels so traders should utilise further dips around the 9900 zone to create fresh longs. On the sectoral front, we prefer pharma, IT at current levels and select private banking names on dips,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.