Share Market Today: The two key equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday closed in the negative zone for the third consecutive day amid unabated foreign fund outflows. The BSE Sensex gave up 495 points to end at 81,006. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 24,748, down 221 points.
Stock update
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Nestle, M&M, UltraCemco, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Tata Steel are among the losers. On the flipside, Infosys, TechM, PowerGrid, L&T, SBI, TCS emerged gainers.
In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices dropped by over 1 per cent each.
Sectoral update
Sectorally, the Nifty IT index defied the trend, closing 1.19 per cent higher, while all other indices ended in negative territory. Nifty Auto and Realty were the hardest hit, each falling by more than 3 per cent.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex declined 319 points to close at 81,501, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 24,971, dropping 86 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,435.94 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Global update
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals. The US markets ended in positive territory on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 per cent to $74.42 a barrel.
Rupee down 5 paise
Rupee traded in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 5 paise to 84.07 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, pressured by foreign fund outflows, a negative trend in domestic equities and broad strength of the American currency.
Forex traders said rupee witnessed range-bound trade as weak domestic markets and a strong US dollar weighed on the domestic currency, while a decline in crude oil prices and contained geopolitical tensions cushioned the downside.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 84.01 and traded in a narrow range of 83.99 and 84.07 and finally settled for the day at 84.07 (provisional), lower by 5 paise over its previous close of 84.02.