Selling in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services also played a spoilsport.

In a lacklustre trading, the 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 9.37 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 62,970, logging its third day of decline. During the day, it hit a high of 63,136.09 and a low of 62,853.67.

The NSE Nifty edged up by 25.70 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 18,691.20.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra and HDFC were the major laggards.

Maruti, Tata Motors, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank were the biggest gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul ended in the green, while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading lower. The US markets ended in negative territory on Friday.

“The global market exhibited a negative bias as concerns regarding economic growth emerged in light of the political instability in Russia. This instability led to an increase in oil prices, driven by worries over potential supply disruptions, given Russia’s status as one of the largest oil producers. On the domestic front, the market experienced limited downside as the pharma and auto sectors provided support,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.45 per cent to USD 74.18 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹344.81 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

On Friday, Sensex fell 259.52 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 62,979.37 points while Nifty declined 105.75 points or 0.56 per cent to end at 18,665.50 points.