After a volatile session Sensex and Nifty ended in negative territory on Thursday, tracking losses in HDFC Bank, Infosys and HUL amid a weak trend in global markets. With today’s trade, markets extended their losing streak to the fifth straight session.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended with losses at 46,874.36, down by 535.57 points or 1.13 per cent while the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 149.95 points or 1.07 per cent to 13,817.55.
Losers on the Sensex pack were led by HUL (plunged 3.65 per cent), followed by Maruti (down 3.56 per cent), HDFC Bank (down 2.81 per cent), PowerGrid (down 2.60 per cent), IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv.
On the other hand, Axis Bank, SBI, ONGC and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.
“A continued pullback in domestic markets is mainly led by profit-booking ahead of union budget,” said Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.
According to traders, recent foreign fund outflows from the domestic capital markets also had an impact on investor sentiment.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap ended with losses at 0.4 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,688.22 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended in the red. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with significant losses in early deals.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.27 per cent to USD 55.39 per barrel.