Indian shares extended losses for the third consecutive week as investors turned cautious after the government hiked securities transaction tax (STT) on futures and options contracts, while lingering concerns of contagion in the global banking sector weighed.
The Nifty 50 index closed 0.77 per cent lower at 16,945.05. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.69 per cent to 57,527.10. Both the benchmarks logged weekly losses of nearly 1 per cent. All 13 of the major sectoral indexes declined, with the heavyweight financials index losing 0.69 per cent. Forty-one of the Nifty 50 constituents fell on Friday.
“There is lack of buying across the spectrum,” said Saurabh Jain of SMC Securities.
