CLOSING BELL Bulls lost to bears during the second half of the trading session on Thursday as geopolitical uncertainty and weekly F&O expiry kept investors on the sidelines.
After starting over 450 points higher, the S&P BSE Sensex turned volatile and eventually closed the session in the red. The index was last seen at 55,103, down 366 points or 0.66 per cent.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 index touched an intra-day high and low of 16,769 and 16,463, respectively, amid heightened choppiness. It shut shop at 16,498, down 108 points or 0.65 per cent.
ONGC, Power Grid, UPL, Wipro, Tech M, HCL Tech, and Coal India were the top gainers on the Nifty index today, rising between 2 per cent and 4.6 per cent. On the downside, Ultratech Cement, HDFC Life, Asian Paints, Shree Cement, Eicher Motors, SBI Life, and Tata Consumer Products were the top laggards, down up to 6.5 per cent.
The broader markets, however, ended mixed with the BSE MidCap index settling 0.64 per cent down. The BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, added 0.35 per cent.
Among individual stocks, the shares of
Vodafone Idea (Vi) surged 7.5 per cent to Rs 11.23 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade ahead of the board meeting today to consider fund raising. The stock of telecom services provider quoted higher for the fourth straight day, and has rallied 16 per cent during the period.
READ MORE That apart, shares of
Adani Green Energy gained 6 per cent to Rs 1,995.95 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade, soaring 9 per cent in the past two trading days, after the company announced that its arm has received Letter of Award (LOA) to set-up 150 MW solar power project.
READ MORE Overall, the advance-to-decline ratio favoured buyers on the BSE courtesy outperformance in smallcap stocks. Buyers outnumbered sellers in the ratio of 1.5:1.
Sectorally, the Nifty Auto index declined 2 per cent on the NSE, followed by the Nifty Private Bank, Bank, and Consumer Durable indices, down 1 per cent each. On the flipside, the Nifty IT and Metal indices added 1 per cent each.
Global markets
European stocks nudged higher on Thursday as tensions remained high over the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with oil and material prices continuing to spike. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.5 per cent in early trade, with basic resources jumping 2.9 per cent and oil and gas stocks climbing 1.5 per cent to lead gains.
On Wall Street, Dow Jones Futures were down 0.2 per cent, while S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite futures slipped 0.07 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei added 0.7 per cent, South Korea's Kospi gained 1.6 per cent, and Australia's ASX200 rose half a per cent..
 "Sensex slides 366 pts, Nifty below 16,500; auto stocks bleed; IT dazzle")
