Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday gave up early gains to close in the red, dragged down by IT and pharma stocks which fell amid fears of recession in the global economy.
The Sensex opened higher and rose further to touch a day’s high of 60,676 on gains in auto and capital goods shares. However, it gave up all early gains and closed 413 points (0.68 per cent) lower at 59,934. The barometer fell 481 points (0.79 per cent) to a low of 59,865 during the intra-day session. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty sank 126 points (0.7 per cent) to end at 17,877.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, and Indusind Bank were among the major losers. On the flip side, Maruti, Power Grid, NTPC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, and State Bank of India were the prime gainers. IT, pharma, and some metal stocks were under pressure.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices advanced 0.3 per cent, and 0.06 per cent, respectively.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE benchmark had settled at 60,346, a loss of 224 points (0.37 per cent). The NSE Nifty closed lower by 66 points (0.37 per cent) at 18,003.
“Defying the positive trend of global markets, domestic indices shed their early gains, dragged by losses in IT and pharma sectors, while mid & small caps outperformed. Fears of a recession in the global economy exacerbated selling pressure in IT and pharma stocks,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
In the Asian markets, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended in the green, while Shanghai and Seoul settled lower. The US markets had ended on a positive note on Wednesday.
The international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.04 per cent to $94.06 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded Rs 1,397.51 crore from the domestic equities on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the rupee declined by 21 paise to close at 79.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a firm American currency and a negative trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened at 79.53 per dollar. It hovered in a range of 79.44 to 79.73 during the session. The domestic unit finally settled at 79.73, down 21 paise over its previous close of 79.52.