The BSE Sensex fell 113 points, or 0.1%, to 84,068 in choppy Friday morning deals, hitting its lowest level since November 11, as traders remained cautious ahead of a US Supreme Court ruling on the legality of US tariffs. Caution was also built ahead of the release of US jobs data to guide the Fed’s monetary policy decision at the upcoming meeting. Investors also anticipated the release of domestic inflation data for December, due next Monday, with the market expecting it to accelerate to 1.5%, which would be the highest level in four months but still below the RBI’s lower tolerance threshold of 2% for the fourth straight month. Banking, financial services, auto, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare stocks mainly weighed on the index, with notable losses from ICICI Bank (-1.5%), Adani Ports (-1.0%), Maruti Suzuki (-0.8%), while Sun Pharmaceuticals and NTPC fell each 0.6%. For the week, the index is heading for a 2.0% decline, which would be the first weekly fall in three weeks.
