Sensex, Nifty fall for 3rd day on weak global trends, foreign fund outflows

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower for a third straight day on Thursday in tandem with a bearish trend in global markets and continuous foreign fund outflows.

Losses in ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank also added to the ongoing weak trend in the benchmark indices. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 542.10 points or 0.82 per cent to settle at 65,240.68. During the day, it slumped 819.7 points or 1.24 per cent to 64,963.08. The NSE Nifty declined 144.90 points or 0.74 per cent to end at 19,381.65. From the Sensex pack, Titan fell by over 2 per cent after the company reported a 4.3 per cent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 756 crore for the June quarter. Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, Tata Consultancy Services, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India were the major laggards. Infosys, JSW Steel, NTPC and Power Grid were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended in the negative territory while Shanghai settled in the green. European markets were trading in the red. The US markets ended lower on Wednesday after Fitch Ratings cut the US government credit rating by one level. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,877.84 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.46 per cent to USD 82.82 a barrel.

Meanwhile, India's services sector growth touched a 13-year high in July as a substantial improvement in demand conditions and pick-up in international sales induced the strongest increase in new business and output, a monthly survey said on Thursday. The BSE benchmark tumbled 676.53 points or 1.02 per cent to settle at 65,782.78 on Wednesday. The Nifty fell by 207 points or 1.05 per cent to end at 19,526.55