Markets end in red for 2nd straight week on persistent selling pressure

Mumbai: Markets ended in red for the second straight week on persistent selling pressure from operators on the back of heavy foreign capital outflows amid fall in crude oil prices below USD 30 a barrel.

Rising of inflation figure and a fall in industrial production also affected the market sentiment.

A Finance Ministry statement said the government will stick to fiscal consolidation road-map without compromising on development spending and expenditure budgeted for the current fiscal failed to stem the rout.

On a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex fell by 479.29 points, or 1.92 percent, to 24,455.04, its weakest closing since May 30, 2014, while the broader NSE Nifty lost 163.55 points, or 2.15 percent, to 7,437.80.

The Sensex dropped by 1,705.86 points, or 6.52 percent and the NSE Nifty by 525.40 points, or 6.60 percent in two weeks.

Markets traded in the negative zone for most part of the week on renewed sell-off in global indexes after oil slumped further into multi-year lows.

Rising for the fifth straight month, retail inflation or CPI quickened to 5.61 percent in December, limiting the headroom for the Reserve Bank to lower rate next month.

For the 14th month in a row, wholesale prices fell in December but the rate of decline at 0.73 percent was the slowest in last one year as food prices shot up, indicating return of inflationary pressures.

Industrial production contracted by 3.2 percent in November -- the lowest level in over four years -- due to poor performance of manufacturing sector and a sharp decline in capital goods output.