Indian benchmark equity indices ended lower on Thursday, with the Sensex shedding over 539 points and the Nifty declining nearly half a per cent, as expiry-related volatility and continued uncertainty over a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East weighed on investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex fell 539.35 points, or 0.70 per cent, to close at 76,933.59, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 116.90 points, or 0.48 per cent, to settle at 24,090.85.
Sectorally, Nifty Pharma was the only major gainer, advancing 0.84 per cent, while Nifty Private Bank edged up 0.09 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank declined 0.94 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal at 0.86 per cent, FMCG at 0.47 per cent, Auto at 0.40 per cent and IT at 0.32 per cent.
Among Nifty 50 constituents, Adani Enterprises gained 1.83 per cent, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank at 1.80 per cent, Adani Ports at 1.33 per cent, Cipla at 1.23 per cent and Bharat Electronics at 1.01 per cent.
Hindalco Industries was the biggest laggard, falling 2.75 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, which declined 2.23 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra fell 2.01 per cent, Shriram Finance 1.48 per cent and Grasim Industries 1.27 per cent.
Brent crude was trading 0.60 per cent higher at USD 88.36 a barrel at the time of reporting.
Asian markets remained mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.20 per cent and Singapore’s Straits Times fell 0.66 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.41 per cent. In contrast, Taiwan’s Weighted Index gained 0.31 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 1.51 per cent and Shanghai Composite rose 1.11 per cent.
