Markets to remain closed today for Holi

New Delhi: All wholesale commodity markets, including those of metals and bullion, will be closed on Friday on account of Holi.

The BSE, NSE, forex and commodity futures markets will also be shut.

The benchmark BSE Sensex on Thursday dropped by over 137 points to close at 34,046.94 as global sell-off triggered by US Fed rate hike fears rode roughshod over the positive economic growth data for the third quarter.

Banking stocks, particularly state-run were among the biggest laggards on unabated nervous off-loading by participants amid growing concerns over a spate of fraud cases.

Select auto stocks, however, were in some demand on the back of encouraging February sales numbers.

For the week, the flagship Sensex recorded a fall of 95.21 points, or 0.27 percent, while the NSE Nifty lost 32.70 points, or 0.31 percent.

Showing signs of recovery, the Indian economy recorded a five-quarter high growth of 7.2 percent in the October-December quarter on good showing by key sectors like agriculture, construction and manufacturing, data released after markets hours yesterday showed.

With Agency Inputs