Markets falls 200 pts on selling in blue-chips

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Monday, dragged down by selling in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank amid mixed global trends.

After oscillating between highs and lows during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 200.66 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 81,508.46. During the day, it moved between a high of 81,783.28 and a low of 81,411.55.

The NSE Nifty dropped 58.80 points or 0.24 per cent to close at 24,619.

From the 30-share pack, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Nestle India, Asian Paints, ITC, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India were among the laggards.

Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid were among the gainers.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.46 per cent and midcap index gained 0.32 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, FMCG plunged the most by 1.93 per cent, followed by Energy (0.65 per cent), Auto (0.64 per cent), Healthcare (0.37 per cent), Oil & Gas (0.34 per cent), Bankex (0.28 per cent) and Consumer Discretionary (0.27 per cent).

The rupee saw its steepest fall in over a month and plunged 20 paise to settle at lowest-ever level of 84.86 against the US dollar on Monday, amid volatile geopolitical situation and muted trend in domestic equities.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.89 per cent to $71.75 a barrel. FIIs turned sellers on Friday after remaining net buyers for the past three straight session. They sold equities worth Rs 1,830.31 crore, according to exchange data.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 56.74 points or 0.07 per cent to settle at 81,709.12, while NSE Nifty dipped 30.60 points to settle at 24,677.80.