Equity benchmarks fall for 5th straight session

Mumbai: Equity market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty stayed on the back foot for the fifth straight session on Thursday as investors offloaded metal, banking and finance stocks amid a lacklustre trend in global markets.

Heavy foreign fund outflows after a hike in securities transaction tax and short-term capital gains tax also impacted markets’ sentiment negatively, traders said.

However, strong buying in oil & stocks, energy and auto shares helped the indices offset some losses, they added.

After a sharp fall in intra-day trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex managed to recover some of the lost ground to settle 109.08 points or 0.14 per cent lower at 80,039.80, as a sharp rally in Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro restricted its fall.

The NSE Nifty dipped 7.40 points or 0.03 per cent to 24,406.10.

The rupee dropped by 7 paise to close at an all-time low of 83.78 against the US dollar on Thursday, dragged down by month-end dollar demand and foreign fund outflows.