Bourses decline amid rate hike worries, banking & realty stocks major laggards

Mumbai: Key stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined over half a per cent on Thursday due to selling in financials, auto and realty shares after five-month high inflation fanned rate hike fears.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 390.58 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 57,235.33. The broader NSE Nifty fell 109.25 points or 0.64 per cent to end at 17,014.35.

Wipro was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 7.03 per cent, followed by SBI, L&T, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and HDFC twins.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Reliance Industries and Ultra Tech Cement were among the gainers, rising up to 3.19 per cent.

In twin blows to Indian economic revival, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent, while factory output fell for the first time in 18 months.

In the broader market, BSE Midcap declined 0.73 per cent while Smallcap dropped 0.45 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, Capital Goods fell by 1.22 per cent, Bankex by 1.21 per cent, Financial Services by 1.13 per cent, and Realty by 1.08 per cent. Power, Utilities and Industrials also closed down nearly 1 per cent.

Metal and Healthcare indices bucked the trend to close higher.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude futures increased by 0.31 per cent to $92.74 per barrel.

The rupee declined by 5 paise to close at 82.38 against US dollar.