Closing Bell: Sensex falls 89 points, Nifty closes at 17,222

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed with losses in a highly choppy session on Thursday as banking and financial stocks retreated amid a weak trend in global equity markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 89.14 points or 0.15% to close at 57,595.68. During the day, the highest level it touched was 57,827.99 and the lowest was 57,138.51. The broader NSE Nifty declined 22.90 points or 0.13% to settle at 17,222.75.

Among the sectoral indices, IT, oil & gas, pharma and metal indices rose 1% each, while bank closed 1% lower. BSE midcap and smallcap indices settle marginally higher.

Major laggards from the Sensex pack were Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.09%, Titan down by 2.63%, HDFC Bank down by 2.23%, ICICI Bank down by 1.94%, HDFC down by 1.50%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki India down by 1.17%, IndusInd Bank down by 0.70%, Hindustan Unilever Limited down by 0.70%, Axis Bank down by 0.61% and State Bank of India down by 0.74%.

Among the gainers was Dr Reddy’s Laboratories up by 4.90%, followed by UltraTech Cement up by 1.77%, Reliance Industries up by 1.50%, Tata Steel up by 1.48%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.75%, NTPC up by 1.46%, ITC up by 1.15%, TCS up by 1.13% and HCL Technologies Limited up by 0.99%.

In the previous trade, the BSE benchmark declined 304.48 points or 0.53% to close at 57,684.82. The Nifty dipped 69.85 points or 0.4% to settle at 17,245.65.

The rupee settled 4 paise higher at 76.35 (provisional) against the US dollar.

Asian market bourses in Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai ended lower, while Tokyo was slightly higher. US stock exchanges ended on a negative note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.30% to USD 122 per barrel.

According to the stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 481.33 crore on Wednesday.