Mumbai [India], January 14 (ANI): Snapping five days of rally, the Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex and Nifty closed in the red on Friday due to selling pressure in FMCG and some banking stocks.

The 30 stock SP Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at 61,223.03 points, which is 12.27 points or 0.02 per cent down from its previous day's close at 61,235.30 points.

The Sensex closed in the red after a volatile session. The benchmark Sensex opened sharply down at 61,040.32 points and slumped to a low of 60,757.03 points.

The benchmark Sensex briefly soared in the positive touching a high of 61,324.59 points in the intra-day.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange closed at 18,255.75 points, which is 0.01 per cent or 2.05 points down from its previous day's close at 18,257.80 points.

The Nifty touched a low of 18,119.65 points and high of 18,286.95 points in the intra-day.

There was selling pressure in banking stocks. Axis Bank slumped 2.54 per cent to Rs 721.60. IndusInd Bank fell 0.78 per cent to Rs 920.15; ICICI Bank dropped 0.67 per cent to Rs 818.90 and State Bank of India closed 0.60 per cent down at Rs 508.25.

Asian Paints 2.66 per cent down at Rs 3364.80; Hindustan Unilever 2.13 per cent down at Rs 2364.50; MahindraMahindra 1.61 per cent down at Rs 880.95; Wipro 1.55 per cent down at Rs 639.80; HDFC 1.52 per cent down at Rs 2713.55 and Bharti Airtel 1.48 per cent down at Rs 720.70 were among the major Sensex losers.

There was good buying support in IT stocks. TCS surged 1.84 per cent to Rs 3969.25. Infosys soared 1.64 per cent to Rs 1928.20. Tech Mahindra jumped 1.18 per cent to Rs 1739.25 and HCL Technologies rose 0.32 per cent to Rs 1337.55.

Other major Sensex gainers were: LT 1.32 per cent higher at Rs 2044.75; HDFC Bank 1.11 per cent higher at Rs 1545.25; UltraTech Cement 0.60 per cent higher at Rs 7655.25; Kotak Bank 0.54 per cent higher at Rs 1937.15 and NTPC 0.30 per cent higher at Rs 135.35. (ANI)