Equity benchmarks extended losses in early trade Friday, tracking weakness in Asian peers on concerns over US-South Korea free trade pact.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 56.33 points at 29,973.41 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 30.70 points to 9,311.45. About 613 shares advanced against 408 declining shares on the BSE.
ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, TCS and HUL were top five contributors to Sensex' loss, down 0.7-1.5 percent whereas auto stocks were gainers ahead of April sales data due next week.
The rupee opened stronger against the dollar, appreciating to 64.11, 4 paise higher than its previous close.
Market participants said that the risk-on sentiment that gripped the market after the conclusion of the first round of the French presidential elections seems to have abated, albeit temporarily.
"The positive risk tone after the first round of French elections, appears to be taking a breather, after the mostly anticipated US tax cut plans and somewhat dovish ECB," said Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank.
Asian markets traded mostly weaker as comments from President Donald Trump on an existing free trade pact with Seoul to payment for a sophisticated anti-missile system caught investors by surprise.
GAIL (+4.2%), HDFC (+1.6%), HCL Tech (+1.3%), TCS (+1.2%) and ITC (+1.1%) were the top gainers on Nifty50.
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