Stock Market: Sensex Drops Nearly 250 Points, Nifty Settles Below 19,650. Metal Drags

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Nestle India, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Larsen & Toubro, and Axis Bank were among the prime gainers.

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday, managed to register a slight recovery over the dip in morning trade. However, the indexes remained in red dipping below the highest mark in the day’s trade. The NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,624.70, while the S&P BSE Sensex dropped about 248 points to close at 65,629.24. 

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Nestle India, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Larsen & Toubro, and Axis Bank were among the prime gainers. On the flip side, Wipro, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, and Bharti Airtel emerged as some of the losers. 

Among specific stocks, Dabur India shares dipped over 2 per cent during the day as the FMCG giant announced on Wednesday that it’s subsidiaries are facing litigations in the US and Canada courts regarding a hair-relaxer product allegedly linked to chemicals causing ovarian cancer, and uterine cancer.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index declined 0.08 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap index inched up 0.07 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100, Nifty Smallcap 50, Nifty Smallcap 250, and Nifty Microcap 250 indices ended trading in green, the rest all the broader indices on the NSE closed in red.

Sectorwise, the Nifty Metal and Oil and Gas indices shed the most during the day and declined 0.88 per cent and 0.53 per cent respectively. The Nifty Auto index climbed 0.50 per cent, and the Nifty Consumer Durables index marked gains of 0.20 per cent.

In the previous session, S&P BSE Sensex tanked 551 points to end at 65,877. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 19,671, down 141 points.

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,831.84 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 4 paise to close at 83.24 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday. The domestic unit opened at 83.26, registering a gain of 3 paise over Wednesday’s close of 83.28 against the American greenback.