Sensex and Nifty settled lower in a volatile trade today.
New Delhi:
The Indian equity benchmarks on Thursday finished lower, halting three straight sessions of gains in volatile trade. The domestic indices swung between gains and losses during the intraday deals before settling in the red amid the expiry of futures and options (F&O) contracts for March.
Asian stocks traded on a weak note tracking an overnight Wall Street stumble, while oil dropped sharply as the United States weighed a massive draw from its reserves to rein in surging fuel prices.
Brent crude futures for May fell $5.77, or 5.36 per cent, to $1087.68 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for May delivery fell $6.13, or 6.03 per cent, to $101.69 a barrel.
Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 115 points or 0.20 per cent to close at 58,569, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 34 points or 0.19 per cent lower to settle at 17,465.
However, mid- and small-cap shares finished on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.34 per cent lower and small-cap climbed 0.69 per cent.
Seven out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — ended in the red. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.17 per cent and 1.29 per cent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, Hindalco was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 4.75 per cent to Rs 571.30.
Divi’s Lab, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Reddy’s and Reliance Industries were also among the laggards.
The overall market breadth stood negative as 1,500 shares advanced while 1,881 declined on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, Reliance, Dr Reddy’s, Wipro, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infosys were among the top losers.
In contrast, M&M, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel and Titan settled in the green.
