Mumbai. Major indices in the domestic stock markets closed in the red on Friday after three consecutive days of rise amid negative signals from Asian markets. BSE Sensex fell 296.59 points (0.36) to 82,269.78. After opening 619 points lower in the morning, the index remained in the red throughout the day. The Nifty-50 index of the National Stock Exchange also fell by 98.25 points and closed at 25,320.65 points.

There was strong selling in medium companies also, while more buying was seen in small companies. Nifty Midcap-50 index closed down 0.26 percent. Nifty Smallcap-100 index gained 0.32 percent. There was a huge fall of 5.21 percent in Nifty Metal Index. Indices of IT, financial services and private banking groups also remained in the red.

Indices of FMCG, realty, auto, media, health, consumer durables and chemicals groups also remained strong. Tata Steel shares fell four and a half percent in Sensex. ICICI Bank shares closed down two percent. Shares of PowerGrid, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Infosys fell by one to two percent.

Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Trent, HDFC Bank, TCS, NTPC, Eternal, Indigo and Bajaj Finance were also in the red. Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra rose by more than 1.25 percent. Shares of State Bank of India, ITC and BEL gained more than one per cent. Shares of Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma also remained in the green.