Sensex falls 361 pts, Nifty holds 17,500; Realty index drags; VIX cools 6%

The benchmark indices ended lower for the fourth straight day on Friday. At close, The Nifty50 index was down 86 points at 17,532. The BSE Sensex, meanwhile, ended with a loss of 361 points at 58,765. Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and Bharti Airtel were among the major losers on the Nifty. M&M, Coal India, IOC, Dr Reddys Laboratories and ONGC were among the gainers.

Buying was seen in the pharma, metal, PSU Bank and energy sectors. Some selling was seen in the realty, bank and IT sectors. However, the broader markets ended the day in the positive territory. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose 0.5 per cent each.