Benchmark indices ended lower for the fourth straight session on Thursday due to selling in IT and banking shares amid weak global equities. Sensex settled 98 points lower at 53,416.15. During the session, the 30-stock index hit a high of 53,861.28 and a low of 53,163.77.
Nifty also trimmed initial gains and closed 28 points lower at 15,938.
Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, UltraTech Cement and ITC were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 1.74 per cent.
Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Maruti Suzuki India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan and Reliance Industries were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 2.28 per cent.
Of 30 Sensex stocks, 18 ended in the red.
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said, "The Nifty corrected towards the lower band of the rising channel before closing a bit off the day's low. On the daily chart, the index has remained below the important moving average. The daily RSI is in a bearish crossover. On the lower end, the index may find support at 15,850-15,875. On the higher end, resistance is visible at 16,100."
Midcap and small cap indices fell 90 points and 145 points, respectively.
IT and banking shares were the top sectoral losers, with their BSE indices falling 397 points and 172 points, respectively.
Share Market update: Sensex falls 98 pts, Nifty below 15,950; IT stocks sink
Market breadth was negative with 1,382 stocks ending higher against 1,940 stocks falling on BSE. 140 shares were unchanged.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Tracking weak cues in global markets, Indian indices gave away their initial gains amid concerns over higher-than-expected US inflation data. Investors are increasingly expecting the Fed to carry out a minimum 75bps rate hike this month in order to combat high inflation. On the domestic front, WPI inflation moderated in June although it remains at the elevated levels, but is expected to ease further during the year."
Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 250.65 lakh crore today against Rs 251.06 lakh crore in the previous session.
Meanwhile, rupee fell 7 paise to close at a record low of 79.88 against the US dollar.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, offloading shares worth Rs 2,839.52 crore, as per exchange data.
In the previous session, benchmark indices erased early gains to close lower on selling in oil and gas, banking and IT stocks amid weak trends in European markets. Sensex fell 372.46 points to close at 53,514 and Nifty declined 91.65 points to end below the 16,000 level at 15,966.
Global markets
In Asia, markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended lower, while Tokyo settled in the green. Equity markets in Europe were trading lower during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended lower on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.97 per cent to $97.61 per barrel.