Nifty ends below 10,500 mark, down 34.50 points

The broader Nifty fell by 34.50 points to 10,458.35, extending losses for the third successive session due to a sharp sell-off at fag-end trade.

Banking, media, metal, realty and financial service sectors were under selling pressure as bearish global cues hurt risk appetite despite better-than-expected December-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data.

Meanwhile, auto stocks were in the green for the larger part of the day. But overall sentiment turned bearish during fag-end trade and investors took some money off the table ahead of the long weekend.

Overseas, European equities were trading lower, on a negative trend in global markets on expectations of a more hawkish US Fed. Asian stocks ended on a mixed note, tracking overnight slide in US equities.
 

The Nifty 50 index eased by 34.50 points or 0.33 per cent to finish at 10,458.35 before moving in a range of 10,525.50 and 10,447.15.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 78.35 points.

On the sectoral front, Nifty PSU Bank dropped 1.87 per cent, Media 1.45 percent, Metal 10.84 percent, Bank 0.82 percent, Private Bank 0.69 percent, Realty 0.66 percent, Finance Service 0.64 percent, Pharma 0.47 percent, IT 0.31 percent, Infra 0.26 percent and Energy 0.22 percent.

Major index gainers included BPCL, Coal India, Auro Pharma, IndusIndBank, Baj Finance, EicherMotors and IOC.

The losers were ICICI Bank, SBIN, UPL, Vedl, Lupin, Hindalco, Infosys, HindPetro and HDFC Bank.

The market breadth, indicating its overall health, turned negative. A total of 690 scrips advanced, 1,072 declined, while 78 remained unchanged.

As many as 166 securities hit their price bands.

Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 27,986.44 crore from Rs 35,921.99 crore as on Wednesday.

A total of 12,506.51 lakh shares changed hands in 97,68,735 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,45,16,525.58 crore.

The National stock exchange (NSE) market will remain closed on Friday, 2 March on account of Holi.