Indian equity benchmarks broke their six-session rally to
close marginally lower on Thursday amid profit booking in banking and energy
counters. Investors also stayed on the sidelines ahead of the RBI’s policy
meeting outcome on Friday.

In a volatile session, the Sensex fell 51.73 points or
0.09% to close at 58,298.80. During the day, it touched a low of 57,577.05 and
a high of 58,712.66.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 6.15 points or 0.04% to settle
at 17,382.

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“Profit-taking finally came into play after 6-session
gains, as rate-sensitive sectors like banking and realty faltered ahead of the
RBI’s policy meet the outcome on Friday. Key indices pared most of their losses
towards the end as strength in other Asian and European indices aided
sentiment,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak
Securities Ltd..

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The broader indices ended in green with the BSE Midcap
index up by 0.29%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.25%. The top gaining
sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.93%, IT up by 1.23%, TECK
up by 1.05%, Metal up by 1.01%, and Consumer Durables up by 0.68%, while Telecom
down by 1.14%, Realty down by 1.11%, PSU down by 1.05%, Bankex down by 0.71%
and Utilities down by 0.70% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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Major laggards from the Sensex pack were NTPC down by
3.10%, SBI down by 1.46%, Reliance down by 1.32%, Axis Bank down by 1.17%,
Power Grid Corp down by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra down by 0.88%, IndusInd Bank down
by 0.77% and HDFC down by 0.68%.

Among the gainers were Sun Pharma up by 2.46%, Nestle up by
2.39%, Infosys up by 2.20%, Dr. Reddy’s Labs up by 1.33%, and Wipro up by
0.76%.

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The rupee depreciated 17 paise to close at 79.32 against
the US dollar.

“Taking positive momentum from the robust US economic
data, the domestic market opened with gains, while worries over the US-China
conflict kept investors on the defensive, leading to heavy volatility. Weak PMI
and trade deficit data witnessed downside pressure on the Indian rupee and
equity market,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial
Services.

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In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
ended in the green.

European stock markets were trading mostly higher during
mid-session deals. The US stock markets had ended significantly higher on
Wednesday.

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Brent crude, the international oil benchmark slipped 0.28%
to $96.51 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional
investors remained net buyers in the capital markets as they bought shares
worth Rs 765.17 crore on Wednesday.