The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday closed in the red for a second straight day, mostly because of weak global sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex slumped 314 points to end at 71,187. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 21,462, down 110 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, HDFC Bank dropped 3.26 per cent, followed by NTPC, PowerGrid, Titan, Asian Paints, Nestle were among the losers. On the flip side, Sun Pharma, TechM, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, M&M, L&T emerged gainers.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap closed 0.08 per cent down, while the BSE Smallcap index settled 0.02 per cent higher.
Sectorwise, bank, FMCG, IT, metal, and power closed 0.3-1 per cent down. Auto, capital goods, healthcare, oil & gas, and realty were up 0.3-0.7 per cent.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex tumbled 1,628 points to 71,500, while the Nifty50 tanked 460 points to end at 21,571.95.
In Asian markets, Tokyo settled lower, while Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory. European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended lower on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 10,578.13 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.50 per cent to $78.27 a barrel.
The rupee appreciated 2 paise to settle at 83.12 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking a weak American currency against major rivals overseas.
A weak trend in domestic equity markets and rising crude oil prices kept the movement of the domestic currency restrcited, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic currency opened at 83.16 and traded in the range of 83.10 to 83.18 against the greenback. The unit finally settled at 83.12 against the dollar, registering a gain of 2 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee settled 2 paise lower at 83.14 against the US dollar.