SENSEX SHEDS 379 POINTS; NIFTY ENDS BELOW 15,200
MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 379 points on Thursday, tracking losses in index heavyweights HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries amid a weak trend in global markets.
The 30-share BSE index ended 379.14 points or 0.73% lower at 51,324.69. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 89.95 points or 0.59% to 15,118.95.
Bajaj Finance was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, skidding over 2%, followed by Kotak Bank, Nestle India, HDFC, M&M and ICICI Bank.ONGC was the top gainer, rallying around 8%. NTPC, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid and IndusInd Bank were among the other winners.
According to analysts, profitbooking in private banks, auto and FMCG dragged the benchmarks.
Indian markets could not sustain early gains and started trading in negative zone in the afternoon session as selling pressure was witnessed following weak global cues mainly from western markets as investors awaited key economic data, said Narendra Solanki, head equity research (fundamental), Anand Rathi.
Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai ended on a positive note, while bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were in the red.
Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading in the negative terrain in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.48% higher at $64.65 per barrel.
The rupee pared its initial losses to settle higher by 9 paise at 72.65 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday following losses in the American currency in the global markets.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened lower at 72.76 tracking selloff in domestic equities. The rupee touched a low of 72.78 and a high of 72.65 during the day.