Markets remain in red zone for 2nd day, IT & pharma major drag

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to close in negative territory on Thursday dragged down by IT and pharma stocks which fell amid fears of recession in the global economy.

The 30-share Sensex opened higher and rose further to touch a day's high of 60,676.12 on gains in auto and capital goods shares. However, it gave up all early gains and later closed 412.96 points or 0.68 per cent lower at 59,934.01. The barometer fell 481.22 points or 0.79 per cent to a low of 59,865.75 during the session.

The Nifty dipped 126.35 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 17,877.40.

From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra fell the most by 3.13 per cent. Infosys, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and Indusind Bank were among the major laggards.

Maruti, Power Grid, NTPC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India ended higher.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT fell 1.63 per cent, followed by teck (1.50 per cent), metal (1.09 per cent), realty (1.01 per cent), healthcare (0.88 per cent) and consumer durables (0.76 per cent). Consumer discretionary goods & services, industrials, utilities, auto and power ended higher.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.04 per cent to $94.06 per barrel.

The rupee declined by 19 paise to close at 79.71 against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a firm American currency and a negative trend in domestic equities.