Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty ended Thursday in highly volatile trading as banking and financial stocks declined amid a weak trend in global stock markets.
The 30-stock BSE Sensex fell 89.14 points, or 0.15%, to trade at 57,595.68. During the day, it hit a low of 57,138.51 and a high of 57,827.99.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 22.90 points, or 0.13%, to settle at 17,222.75.
Out of the 30 stock package, the main resistances were Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Axis Bank and State Bank of India.
In contrast, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, ITC, TCS and HCL Technologies Limited among the winners.
“The market now lacks direction and is moving up or down on a daily basis in response to news on crude oil prices, FPI flows and speculation about what the Fed may do at upcoming policy meetings,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In the previous trade, the BSE barometer fell 304.48 points, or 0.53%, to settle at 57,684.82. The Nifty fell 69.85 points, or 0.4%, to end at 17,245.65.
Stock exchanges in Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai closed lower, while Tokyo traded slightly higher. Stock exchanges in the US ended the night session on a negative note.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent rose 0.30% to $122 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought £481.33 billion worth of shares, according to stock market data on Wednesday.
