Sensex falls for 4th day, drops 221pts; Nifty nears 19,650; PSBs defy trend

Stock market highlights: Equity markets swung in trades on Friday as boost from JP Morgan's decision to include Indian bonds in its Emerging Market index weathered weak global sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex gyrated 493 points intraday, before settling at 66,008, down 221 points or 0.33 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, closed at 19,674, down 68 points or 0.34 per cent.

Wipro, Ultratech Cement, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, Divis Labs, and UPL were among the top large-cap laggards, while Star Health, Glenmark Pharma, Astral, EKI, Jupiter Wagon, and RattanIndia Power were the losers in the broader market space.

Index wise, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settled in-line moxed with a loss of 0.17 per cent and a gain of 0.06 per cent, respectively. 

Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank jumped the most, rising 3.5 per cent, amid hopes that Indin bonds' inclusion in JPM index would boos ttheir bond portfolios. Besides, the Nifty Auto index was the other notable gainer, up 0.21 per cent. On the downside, the Nifty Pharma fell 1.5 per cent.