The equity benchmark Sensex continued the fall consecutively for the third day in a row and plunged 634 points on Thursday to close below 60,000-mark. Nifty 50 ends below the 17,800 mark. Sensex majors Infosys, TCS, and RIL ended in red amid a fresh sell-off in European markets.

The 30-scrip BSE index ended 634.20 points or 1.06% lower at 59,464.62. Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 181.40 points or 1.01% to 17,757.00.

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Except for power, realty, and metal, all other sectoral indices closed in the red with auto, IT, FMCG, and pharma indices down 0.8-1.7%. BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended flat.

IT, phamra and FMCG were the worst hit sectors. Sensex top losers were Bajaj Finserv (-4.57%), Infosys (-2.33%), TCS (-2.25), Sun Pharma (-2.20), HCL Tech (-1.97%), HUL (-2.13%), Dr Reddy’s (-1.92%), HDFC (-1.90%) and Reliance Industries (-1.69%).

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On the other hand, PowerGrid (4.86%), Bharti Airtel (1.60%), Asian Paints (0.81%), Maruti (0.35%), and ICICI Bank (0.20%) were among the gainers.

Nifty top gainers were Power Grid Corporation (4.81%), Bharti Airtel (2.17%), Grasim Industries (1.66%), JSW Steel (1.34%), and Tata Consumer Products (1.17%).

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Bajaj Finserv (-4.58%), Infosys (-2.24%), TCS (-2.08%), Divis Lab (-2.93%) and Bajaj Auto (-3.70%) were the top Nifty losers

Among Asian markets, stocks in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo ended with gains, while Shanghai closed in the red.

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European Stock exchanges were witnessing intense selling pressure in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1% to USD 87.56 per barrel.

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According to stock exchange data, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 2,704.77 crore on Wednesday.