New Delhi: Markets cracked for the third consecutive session Thursday on with both Sensex and Nifty falling over 1.5 percent. Negative global cues, weak rupee, fears over possible crude oil production cut by the OPEC group and sustained selling by foreign as well as domestic institutional investors weighed on market sentiments.
The BSE Sensex plunged 572.28 points, or 1.59 percent, to close at 35,312.13. It touched an intra-day high of 35,707.23 and a low of 35,266.76.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 181.75 points, or 1.69 percent, to 10,601.15. The market breadth was negative as a number of declining stocks was thrice the advancing ones. A total of 656 stocks advanced while 1,814 declined.
All sectoral indices on the BSE and NSE ended in the red, led by metal, oil and gas, pharma and financial stocks.
Top losers in the session included Maruti, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Yes Bank, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, ONGC, HUL, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank, falling up to 5 percent. Sun Pharma was the sole gainer on the Sensex, rising 1.57 percent.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 357.82 crore Wednesday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 791.59 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
With Agency Inputs
