The fall was led by banking stocks, with IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI declining up to 2.36 per cent.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
Breaking its four-day rising spree, benchmark Sensex ended over 100 points lower on Thursday, led by selling in banking shares, as investors stayed on the back foot ahead of key results.
Lacklustre global cues and a weakening rupee added to the wariness of participants, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 106.41 points, or 0.29 per cent, down at 36,106.50, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 33.55 points, or 0.31 per cent, to finish at 10,821.60.
The fall was led by banking stocks, with IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI declining up to 2.36 per cent.
Other losers included ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, ITC and HCL Tech, falling up to 1.31 per cent.
Shares of TCS were flat ahead of its quarterly earnings.
On the other hand, Tata Motors, NTPC, Infosys, Yes Bank, M&M, L&T, Bharti Airtel, and HUL were the top gainers, rising up to 1.34 per cent.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 276.14 crore on Wednesday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 439.67 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
"Earnings will provide some sense of where things stand... Clearly, after four years of lackluster earnings growth at the index level, earnings need to start coming through and investors will be keenly focused on forward commentary in particular," said Sunil Sharma, chief investment officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.
On the macro front, the rupee depreciated 10 paise to 70.56 against the US dollar.
Global markets turned weaker as optimism over the US-China trade talks fizzled out, while oil prices traded above the $60 per barrel mark.
In Asia, Korea's Kospi fell 0.06 per cent, Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.29 per cent, and Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.36 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.22 per cent.
In Europe, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.51 per cent, Paris CAC 40 fell 0.82 per cent, and London's FTSE shed 0.29 per cent.
