Mumbai, Dec 5 (IANS): A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed Friday's trade down 105 points or 0.37 percent.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in healthcare, information technology (IT) and technology, entertainment and media (TECK) sectors, while healthy buying was seen in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables and realty stocks.

“Markets ended the week with minor losses. Going ahead, we need to see increased investments in the economy, especially from the private sector,” Dipen Shah, head - private client group research, Kotak Securities said.

“Improvement at the ground level is one of the important determinants of the market movement, going ahead,” he said.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 28,604.50 points, closed at 28,458.10 points, down 104.72 points or 0.37 percent from the previous day's close at 28,562.82 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 28,651.75 points and a low of 28,409.05 points in the intra-day trade.

The S&P BSE healthcare index lost 211.76 points, IT index moved down by 202.46 points, and TECK index was lower by 89.54 points.

However, FMCG index was up 91.30 points, consumer durables index gained 27.62 points and realty index rose 21.27 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed in the red. It was down 26.10 points or 0.30 percent at 8,538.30 points.

“The markets today remained in a range due to the lack of triggers. Nifty closed at 8,538 -- down around 26 points. Going forward, we can see Nifty consolidating at around 8,500-levels before giving a major directional move,” said Alex Mathews, head research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The major Sensex gainers were: ITC, up 2.27 percent at Rs.391.45; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 2.24 percent at Rs.1,294.45; Sesa Sterlite, up 1.90 percent at Rs.241.70; HDFC, up 0.27 percent at Rs.1,114.40; and Coal India, up 0.27 percent at Rs.356.45.

The major Sensex losers were: DrReddy, down 2.23 percent at Rs.3,394.65; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 2.21 percent at Rs.2,578.45; Sun Pharma, down 2.20 percent at Rs.821.30; Wipro, down 2.19 percent at Rs.578.20; and Cipla, down 1.75 percent at Rs.646.80.