Mumbai, November 13: Indian equity markets ended the week on a negative note on Friday, with benchmark indices declining amid concerns over rising crude oil prices, higher inflation and the possibility of further interest rate hikes.

The Nifty 50 fell 155.05 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 25,144.30, while the BSE Sensex declined 318.56 points, or 0.39 per cent, to settle at 81,592.45.

Investor sentiment remained cautious as rising crude oil prices and inflationary pressures raised concerns over a prolonged restrictive monetary policy. October retail inflation reportedly breached the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent, adding to expectations of possible monetary tightening.

However, sustained foreign institutional investor inflows and encouraging corporate earnings provided some support to the market, limiting broader selling pressure.

Selling was also witnessed across broader market indices. The Nifty 100 declined 0.7 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 0.3 per cent and 0.19 per cent, respectively.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Metal index dropped over 1 per cent, while the Nifty Auto declined 1.03 per cent. The Nifty Private Bank index lost 0.9 per cent, and the Nifty IT fell 0.7 per cent. The FMCG index also ended lower by 0.19 per cent.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices edged up 0.15 per cent to USD 96 per barrel, adding to concerns over India's import bill and inflation outlook.

In the commodities market, 24-carat gold gained 0.34 per cent to Rs 1,36,683 per 10 grams, while silver slipped 0.19 per cent to Rs 1,78,383 per kg.

The Indian rupee strengthened marginally by 7 paise to close at 94.05 against the US dollar. However, the recovery remained vulnerable to fluctuations in crude oil prices and rising inflationary pressures.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.81 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.99 per cent, and Singapore's Straits Times lost 0.91 per cent. In contrast, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.44 per cent, while Taiwan's weighted index gained 1.34 per cent. (With ANI inputs)