Markets take cautious turn, Sensex down 230 points

The fall in the Indian markets was mainly on account of domestic pressures as the major Asian and European markets closed in the green on Friday.

The slide was led by the oil and gas index that lost 1.8 per cent during the day as the Delhi police called employees of Reliance Industries, Reliance ADA Group, Essar Group and Cairn India for questioning in the case involving leakage of government documents.

While the Oil and Gas index at BSE emerged as the biggest loser, even the banking index lost around 0.5 per cent. The IT index too lost 1.2 per cent.This was the first fall in the Sensex after gains of over 1,200 points or 4.4 per cent that extended for seven continuous trading sessions.

Market experts also see the correction as a result of the profit booking following a big surge in the markets over the last few trading sessions.

Major scrips that fell include ICICI Bank, Infosys, HDFC and L&T.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) too emerged as net sellers on Friday and they sold Indian equities worth Rs 89 crore.