The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday ended in the red tracking weak global sentiment and weekly F&O expiry. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 388 points to end at 65,151. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 19,365, down 100 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, ITC, PowerGrid, Reliance, L&T, Nestle, Kotak Bank, JSW Steel were among the losers. On the flip side, Titan, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, TechM, and Airtel emerged winners.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices settled in the green with up to 0.2 per cent gains.
Sectorally, except PSU Bank, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with capital goods, oil & gas, power, FMCG, and information technology down 0.3-0.9 per cent. The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1.5 per cent.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 65,539, up 137 points, while the NSE Nifty50 index ended at 19,465, up 30 points.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong ended lower, while Shanghai settled in the green. European markets were trading lower in the afternoon session. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.36 per cent to $83.75 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday as they bought equities worth Rs 722.76 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee pared its initial gains and settled for the day lower by 2 paise at an all-time low of 83.10 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a strong greenback overseas and a negative trend in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.10 against the dollar, and it finally ended the day at the same level 83.10 (provisional), registering a fall of 2 paise from its previous close.