he key Indian indices ended in red for third session on continuous selling pressure led by weak global and domestic environment. The BSE Sensex slipped 59 points and the Nifty closed 22 points lower in trade today.

 Major headlines

• Bank credit to industry up 14.7% in February 2013
• Diageo refuses to lift United Spirits offer price
• Maruti Suzuki rallies on weaker yen currency
• Sugar stocks jump as CCEA OKs partial decontrol

 Indian indices
The key benchmarks closed in the red zone as the equities traded on a subdued note led by selling pressure across the board. The Indian markets witnessed another weak trading session amid volatility in FMCG, CD, CG, Power and Bankex shares. The BSE Sensex fell for a third consecutive session on Friday as concerns that foreign investors would exit some of their holdings due to domestic and global uncertainties continued to hit blue chips such as ITC and ICICI Bank. The broader markets ended on mixed note. At the closing bell, the BSE Midcap index rose 0.02%, while the BSE Smallcap index was down by 0.15% leading to strong market breadth. The BSE Sensex fell 0.32% while Nifty ended 0.39% lower.

Movement of the Indian indices for the day

Indian stock markets extended previous session's losses leading to another weak session with negativity hovering all over the D Street today. Indices started trading in the red zone and remained listless for major part of the day. Equities did enter the green territory to  trade positive for a while raising investor's hope but could not sustain gains for long and slipped back to the negative zone. 

Following are the stocks/sectors which were in news today: Shares of sugar manufacturers rallied up to 20% in opening deals after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a proposal to abolish the levy-sugar mechanism, under which private millers have to sell a specified quantity of the sweetener to the government at concessional rates. Bajaj Hindustan, Shree Renuka Sugars, Balarampur Chini Mills, Mawana Sugars, Oudh Sugars and Dhampur Sugar Mills traded 10-20% higher in trade today.  Maruti Suzuki India rose 7.23%, on hopes that a weaker yen currency would improve margins by reducing the costs of importing auto parts from Japan after the Bank of Japan unleashed unprecedented monetary expansion.  United Spirits fell 3.75% after UK drinks group Diageo Plc opted not to lift its offer price of Rs1,440 as it looks to raise its stake in the company.

Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of advances. Of the 2866 stocks traded on the BSE, 1422 (49.62%) rose, 1306 (45.57%) fell and 138 (4.82%) stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening
Among the 13 sectoral indices, eight sectors closed in the red zone while remaining five sectors closed in the green zone. Top Gainers- BSE Oil&Gas up by 1.65%, BSE Auto rose by 0.55%, BSE Metal surged 0.31%. Top Losers: BSE FMCG was down by 1.74%, BSE CD fell by 0.78% and BSE CG declined by 0.72%

Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- Indraprastha Gas rose by 11.45%, Maruti Suzuki was up by 7.23% and Motherson Sumi surged by 4.72%. Top three losers were- NMDC declined by 4.48%, Exide Industries was down by 3.84% and United Spirits fell by 3.75%.  

Global signals
Asian shares hit a three-month low on Friday as concerns over bird flu in China and escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula unsettled investors as they counted down to potentially pivotal U.S. payrolls data out later in the session.

European shares hit a one-month low on Friday as investors braced for potentially weaker-than-forecast U.S. payrolls data due later, while many of Europe's sovereign bonds jumped on talk of Japanese demand.

US stock index futures pointed towards a lower opening at the Wall Street on Friday.