Banking, IT stocks bear the brunt on bourses

Mumbai: Key benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower for a second day on Thursday in a volatile session after a selloff in banking and IT stocks amid lingering geopolitical worries.

After oscillating over 700 points between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex finally ended 104.67 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 57,892 points. As many as 19 constituents declined while 11 advanced. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 17.60 points or 0.10 per cent to settle the day at 17,304.60 – marking its second straight session of loss.

"Markets kept on vacillating near the previous session's close throughout the day. Many attempts were made by the bulls to take it higher past yesterday's close into positive territory, buy all were futile and markets eventually closed in the red territory. Outcome of state elections and fears of interest rate hikes in India and abroad continue to plague the sentiments," said Devarsh Vakil, deputy head (retail research), HDFC Securities.

"The looming uncertainty around Russia-Ukraine kept the participants on the edge till the end," said Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Among Sensex stocks, ICICI Bank fell the most by 2 per cent, followed by UltratechCement (1.9 per cent) and Axis Bank (1.79 per cent). IndusInd Bank declined by 1.27 per cent, Nestle by 0.85 per cent and TCS by 0.76 per cent. Infosys, HDFC Bank, SBI, Kotak Bank, and Bharti Airtel also declined. However, gains in HDFC and Reliance Industries restricted the losses in the Sensex. HDFC rose the most by 1.71 per cent while Reliance Industries advanced by 1.35 per cent. HUL rose by 0.85 per cent and PowerGrid by 0.43 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,890.96 crore, according to stock exchange data.