Stock markets halt four-day rally

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower on Wednesday, snapping their four-day rally following selling in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.

In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 153.09 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 81,773.66. During the day, it hit a high of 82,257.74 and a low of 81,646.08, gyrating 611.66 points.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 62.15 points or 0.25 per cent to 25,046.15.

Profit-taking in auto, real estate, and banking shares dragged the markets down, analysts said.

Among Sensex firms, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Electronics, UltraTech Cement, Trent, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and Reliance Industries were the major laggards.

However, Titan, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were among the biggest gainers.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.74 per cent and smallcap dipped 0.42 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, realty dropped 1.88 per cent, power by 1.49 per cent, auto by 1.35 per cent and utilities by 1.29 per cent.

However, BSE Focused IT surged 1.67 per cent, IT index jumped 1.50 per cent, teck (1.34 per cent) and consumer durables (0.37 per cent).