ITC added another 2 percent (over 5 percent rally in previous session) as sources said the government is unlikely to ban sale of loose cigarettes. Mahindra and Mahindra and Sesa Sterlite gained 2 percent too.

It was another day of consolidation for the equity benchmarks on Friday despite positive global cues. Frontline indices saw sell-off in late trade, which closed lower for the day as well as for the week. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 104.72 points to close at 28458.10 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 26.10 points to 8538.30 weighed by technology, healthcare, select auto and banks stocks.

Experts remained optimistic about the market in medium to long term but they expect some correction in the near term (may be before the Budget). As far as broader space is concerned, they advise staying with quality stocks and selling non-quality stocks.

Deven Choksey of KR Choksey feels the market would remain in consolidation phase ranging from 8,400 to 8,800 in December series. In January, Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Consulting expects the market to correct as he feels the market is getting too optimistic about the macro recovery and about the upcoming Budget.

For the week, the Sensex declined 0.8 percent and Nifty fell 0.6 percent whereas the CNX Midcap outperformed, climbing 2 percent. On the global front, Asian markets closed higher with the Shanghai rising over a percent and Hang Seng gaining 0.7 percent. All eyes are now on the US jobs data that is be announced later today.

European markets like France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX climbed over a percent while Britain’s FTSE was up 0.5 percent (at 16 hours IST) after ECB meet and ahead US jobs data. Back home, India’s largest lender State Bank of India cut interest rates of three retail term deposits by 25 basis points. The management told CNBC-TV18 that the bank expects a positive impact on margins, saying liquidity in the system is adequate and that base rates will be cut in CY15. The stock was down 0.8 percent.

Coustery : http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/local-markets/profit-takinglate-trade-drags-sensex-105-pts-itc2_1245767.html