Mumbai, Sep 20 (IANS): A benchmark index of Indian equities markets fell 383 points or 1.85 percent Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked its key policy interest rate by 0.25 percent, which will make home, auto and other loans costlier.

Selling pressure was observed in banking index (bankex), capital goods, auto and metal sectors. However, marginal upward trade was seen in consumer durables and healthcare sectors.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,616.35 points, closed at 20,263.71 points, down 382.93 points or 1.85 percent from previous day's close at 20,646.64 points.

Sensex touched a high of 20,677.99 points and a low of 20,051.43 points intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended 1.69 percent or 103.45 points down at 6,012.10 points.

The S&P BSE bankex tanked 530.97 points, capital goods index dipped by 253.22 points, auto index plunged by 179.42 points and metal index slipped by 102.35 points. However, consumer durables index inched up by 20.26 points and healthcare index went up marginally by 12.25 points.

The prominent Sensex gainers were: Gail India, up 3.51 percent at Rs.340.40; Sun Pharma, up 1.54 percent at Rs.566.60; and Coal India, up 1.26 percent at Rs.301.15.

The losers were: ICICI Bank, down 4.78 percent at Rs.987.30; Larsen & Toubro, down 4.63 percent at Rs.847; Sesa Goa, down 3.93 percent at Rs.178.35; and Hindustan Unilever, down 3.80 percent at Rs.651.25.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.16 percent down; while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up by 1.67 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index was lower by 0.29 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.05 percent down, while Germany's DAX Index was up 0.10 percent and the French CAC 40 Index was up by 0.12 percent.