Indian shares slipped from record highs on Friday, dragged down by banking stocks, as investors locked in gains after indexes scaled fresh peaks in 18 of the past 27 sessions.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.34per cent to 13,694.20 by 0446 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.33per cent at 46,735.12. However, both indexes are on track for a seventh straight week of gains, a streak not seen since April last year.

“(The markets) have run up one way for quite some time,” said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors in Mumbai. “We will have all dips being bought in.”

As the end of the year nears, global markets have been swinging between broader optimism about Covid-19 vaccines and a global economic recovery and concerns about still rising infections.

However, Indian markets have mostly outperformed other Asian markets this year, boosted by record inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), vaccine progress globally and signs of a nascent economic recovery in the country.

“I don’t see any big correction unless there is some interruption in liquidity. We are seeing average buying of at least 20 billion rupees ($271.96 million) per day from the FIIs,” Dasgupta said.

In Mumbai trading, the Nifty IT index rose 1.6per cent, while the Nifty Bank Index fell 1.2per cent. Lender HDFC Bank was the top drag to the Nifty 50, falling 1.8per cent.

Axis Bank fell 0.8per cent, after local media reports said that the private-lender expected an increase in retail non-performing loans in the third and fourth quarters of this financial year.

Defence manufacturers and suppliers Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Dynamics rose between 0.2per cent and 1.2per cent. India’s defence ministry on Thursday approved proposals to procure equipment worth 270 billion rupees from the domestic industry.