MUMBAI: After six consecutive days of rally, the Indian equities markets key indices witnessed volatile trading on Thursday with the benchmark Sensex closing 52 points lower, dragged by selling pressure in heavyweights Reliance Industries and State Bank of India.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex closed 51.73 points down at 58,298.80 points against its previous day’s close at 58,350.53 points.
The markets witnessed a volatile session. The Sensex started the day in the positive at 58,571.28 points and rose to a high of 58,712.66 points in the morning session. It slipped into negative in the late morning session and fell to a low of 57,577.05 points in the intra-day.
The Sensex has closed in the red for the first time in the past seven trading sessions. The index had gained 214.17 points or 0.37 per cent on Wednesday.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange closed 6.15 points down at 17,382.00 points against its previous day’s close at 17,388.15 points. It witnessed volatility after six consecutive sessions of gains. The Nifty had gained 42.70 points on Wednesday.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd closed 1.32 per cent down at Rs 2,571.40 while NTPC dipped 3.10 per cent to Rs 154.80.
There was heavy selling pressure in banking stocks. State Bank of India dipped 1.46 per cent to Rs 532.90 while Axis Bank slipped 1.17 per cent to Rs 721.75. Kotak Bank fell 0.88 per cent to Rs 1,835.10, IndusInd Bank slipped 0.77 per cent to Rs 1,050.10 and ICICI Bank closed 0.59 per cent down at 819.85.
Sixteen of the 30 scrips that are part of the benchmark Sensex closed in the positive. Sun Pharma jumped 2.46 per cent to Rs 919, Nestle India rose 2.39 per cent to Rs 19,834.80 and. Infosys jumped 2.20 per cent to Rs 1,599.65.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services and ITC were among the major Sensex gainers. (ANI)