The Indian equity benchmarks extended losses to third session in a row on Thursday dragged by losses in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank. The Sensex fell as much as 945 points and Nifty 50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 17,700.
The Sensex ended 634 points lower at 59,465 and Nifty 50 index dropped 181 points or 1.01 per cent to close at 17,757.
Selling pressure was broad-based as thirteen of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Information technology index's nearly 2 per cent fall. Nifty Pharma, Financial Services, Private Bank, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Pharma and Bank indices also declined over 1 per cent each.
On the other hand, select metal and real estate shares were witnessed buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap shares faced a mild selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 0.16 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 100 index ended on a flat note.
Among the individual shares, Ceat dropped as much as 7.25 per cent to hit fresh 52-week low of Rs 1,051 as it came under heavy selling pressure on Thursday after it reported loss of Rs 20 crore for the December 2021 quarter.
Ceat reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 20 crore for the December 2021 quarter, due to muted demand. The company had posted profit of Rs 132 crore in the third quarter of 2020-21.
Bajaj FInserv was top Nifty loser, the stock fell nearly 4.58 per cent to close at Rs 17,250 despite its profit rising manifold to Rs 168 crore in December quarter. Bajaj Auto, Divi's Labs, Infosys, TCS, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC, Dr Reddy’s Labs, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries and Shree Cement also fell between 1.4-3.7 per cent.
On the flipside, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, Tata Consumer Products, Britannia, Asian Paints, Coal India and Hero MotoCorp were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,744 shares ended higher while 1,663 closed lower on the BSE.
