Equity benchmarks sink amid weak global market trends, Sensex falls over 230 points

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices ended lower on Thursday in line with weak global market trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 230.12 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 61,750.60. During the day, it fell 337.45 points or 0.54 per cent to 61,643.27. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 65.75 points or 0.36 per cent to end at 18,343.90.

From the Sensex pack, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly lower in the afternoon session. Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on

Wednesday.

"Domestic equities had a lackluster session for second consecutive day amid volatility and weakness in global markets. Nifty opened lower and witnessed minor selling pressure to close with loss of 66 points at 18,344 levels," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge dipped 0.33 per cent and smallcap index went lower by 0.27 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, consumer durables fell 1.65 per cent, utilities went lower by 1.50 per cent. Auto index declined 1.35 per cent, while power fell 1.34 per cent and consumer discretionary 0.92 per cent.

On the other hand, industrials, telecommunications and capital goods ended in the positive territory.

The rupee depreciated by 38 paise to close at 81.64 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas markets and a muted trend in domestic equities.