Nifty ends below 15,700; banks, IT top losers

Indian equity benchmarks closed in the red on Friday led by banking and financial stocks. Nifty ended the day below 15,700 level, down 0.24%. Here are the highlights:

• Banking, IT and auto stocks dragged the marked down alongside a broad-based selling in Asian peers.
• Panic among investors as Delta variant of coronavirus may hamper global economic recovery.
• Indian rupee rose 7 paise to settle at 74.64 against the US dollar.
• Bajaj Auto, TCS, HDFC Bank, Reliance and Axis Bank were the top losers.
• Metal and Realty indices ended almost 2% higher each.