Benchmark share indices pared early gains to end lower on Thursday, following the expiry of September derivative contracts, weighed down by profit taking in index heavyeights.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended down 63 points at 18,569 and the 50-share Nifty provisionally ended down 18 points at 5,645.
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(Updated at 14:25 hrs)
Benchmark Indices have erased early gains led by profit taking among index heavyweights Reliance Inds and Infosys in late noon trades.
By 1420 hrs, the Sensex was down 3 points at 18,629 and the Nifty slipped 1 point to 5,662.
On the global front, Asian markets are trading in the positive zone as well, with Chinese shares soaring, amid reports the country’s central bank injected a record amount of liquidity into the banking system. Nikkei, Strait Times, Hang Seng, Taiwan, Kospi and Shanghai Composite have gained between 0.2-3%.
Back home, BSE Oil & Gas and IT indices have plunged by almost 1% each. However, BSE FMCG, Consumer Durable, Realty and Capital Goods indices have surged by almost 1% each.
From the Oil & Gas space, ONGC is the top Sensex loser, down by almost 2%. Reliance Inds have declined over 1%.
IT majors like Infosys and Wipro have plummeted over 1% each.
Other notable losers include BHEL, Sterlite Inds, NTPC, Coal India and Cipla.
On the winning side, Tata Power has surged by almost 5% ahead of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) final hearing on the tariff revision plea of the company for the 4,000 MW Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) later today.
FMCG majors like ITC and HUL have gained by 1% each.
Other notable gainers include L&T, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco.
Among individual shares, Claris Lifesciences has rallied 10% to Rs 249, extending its 7% rise in past two days, on back of over three-fold jump in trading volumes.
The broader indices are out performing the benchmark indices. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.3-1%.
The market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,471 shares advancing and 1,239 shares declining.