NEW DELHI, 19 October (H.S.):Benchmark indices SENSEX and NIFTY

continued their slide for the third straight week despite a breather on Friday.

NIFTY gained 0.4 percent to settle at

24,854 and SENSEX rose by 0.2 percent to end the week at 81,224 levels. SENSEX

dropped 152 points on a weekly basis, while NIFTY lost 110 points largely due

to losses in three of five trading sessions.

Stock markets dropped to

two-month lows mid-week following heavy selling by foreign institutional

investors (FIIs) triggered by rising US bond yields and a flare-up in tensions

in the Middle East region. Continuing

FII outflows from Indian markets also dampened the sentiment on the D-Street

this week.

On the

sectoral front, Nifty Auto index slipped nearly 5 percent, Nifty Metal index

fell nearly 2 percent, Nifty Media, FMCG and Oil & Gas index shed 1.5

percent each. On the other hand, Nifty Bank index up nearly 2 percent, Nifty

PSU Bank index added 1 percent, and Nifty Realty index gained 0.6 percent.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Nimish kumar