Indian equity benchmark Sensex came under fag-end selling pressure to settle in the negative for the sixth consecutive session on Friday as risk-off sentiment prevailed amid continuous selling by foreign institutional investors and concerns over inflation.

The BSE Sensex lost all intra-day gains and declined 136.69 points or 0.26% to close at 52,793.62. During the day, it surged 855.5 points or 1.61% to 53,785.71.

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Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty plunged 25.85 points or 0.16% to finish at 15,782.15.

On the sectoral front bank, metal and power indices closed 1-2% lower, while auto, FMCG, and pharma indices gained 1-2%.

BSE midcap index added 0.8% and smallcap indices rose 1.3%.

The biggest laggards from the Sensex pack were State Bank of India down by 3.76%, ICICI Bank down by 2.65%, NTPC down by 2.56%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.32%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.07%, Axis Bank down by 2.07%, Tata Steel down by 1.94%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.83 and Wipro down by 1.11%.

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Among the gainers were Sun Pharma up by 3.76%, M&M up by 2.78%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.49, ITC up by 2.25%, Titan up by 2.08% and Reliance up by 2.08%.

The rupee settled flat at 77.44 per US dollar versus Thursday’s close of 77.42.

Asian markets closed higher with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai gaining significantly. European markets were trading higher in the afternoon session.

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US stock exchanges had settled on a mixed note on Thursday.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, jumped 1.09% to USD 108.6 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 5,255.75 crore on Thursday.

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“This is the season of headwinds for markets. High inflation in the US and the hawkish Fed has pushed up bond yields, negatively impacting equity markets. FPIs continue their selling spree further impacting sentiments. To top it all, CPI inflation for April has come at a disturbingly high level of 7.79 per cent, leaving no option for RBI but to turn hawkish in the coming policy meets,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

He added that the positive side is that all this bad news is already known and factored in by the market.

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Retail inflation in India rose for a seventh straight month to touch an 8-year high of 7.79% in April on rising food and fuel prices, raising the odds of an interest rate hike by the RBI early next month to tame prices.