Market erases all gains, Nifty falls below 23,300
At close, the Sensex was down 422.59 points or 0.54% at 77,155.79, while the Nifty fell 168.60 points or 0.72% at 23,349.90.
Domestic markets ended in negative territory or the second consecutive day on Thursday amid selling in financial and pharmaceutical counters.
After opening on a positive notes, the S&P BSE Sensex pared all gains to end at 38,310.49 levels, down by 59.14 points or 0.15 per cent while the NSE Nifty slipped 7.95 points or 0.07 per cent to finish at 11,300.45.
Bharti Airtel was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, ITC, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC twins and Nestle India. On the other hand, L&T rallied over 4 per cent. Titan, HCL Tech, NTPC and UltraTech Cement were also among the gainers.
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On the broader market, the S&P MidCap and SmallCap index ended 1.6 per cent and 0.76 per cent higher respectively.
Indian markets opened on a positive note amid a mixed trend in Asian peers, but profit-booking emerged in the afternoon session, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.
According to traders, lack of directional cues from global markets amid spiking COVID-19 cases kept investors on edge.
Bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended with gains, while Hong Kong closed in the red.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a negative note in early deals.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.20 per cent lower at $45.34 per barrel.
On the currency front, the rupee settled on a flat note, edging just 1 paisa lower to 74.84 against the US dollar.
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