Stock markets on Friday ended the week on a slightly sour note, with the barometer Sensex snapping 4-day rally and slipping 26 points as investors turned cautious on market regulator SEBI barring four companies from trading and booked profits, ignoring positive economic data from the US.

After trading in a narrow range through the day, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex settled at 19,966.93, shedding 25.77 points or 0.13 per cent from the previous close.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange’s wide-based Nifty declined by 18.90 points to close at 5,992.80.

Analysts said cautious investors booked profits after SEBI’s Thursday decision to bar Ackruti City, Welspun Corp, Brushman India and Murli Industries and their promoters from trading on the bourses.

“Sentiment of Investors and brokers, who were riding high on strong economic growth numbers and easing food inflation, got hit after the SEBI’s order on rumours of similar rulings on other big companies”, said CNI Research CMD Kishore Ostwal.

Major show spoilers on the street were banking and realty counters, which erased previous session’s gains as investors locked profits.

Among the realty majors, DLF and JP Associates saw a dip of 4.53 per cent and 4.27 per cent respectively.

Anil Ambani led Reliance Infrastructure also tanked by 4.29 per cent.

Broader market had to also bear the brunt of meltdown in metal counters including the copper producer Sterlite Industries and the aluminium producer Hindalco, which tumbled by 2.39 per cent and 1.33 per cent respectively.

IT counters came to the rescue of the market with the bellwether Infosys Technologies, which carries maximum weight on the key index after Reliance Industries, advancing by 0.89 per cent.