Market wrap: NIFTY50 ends below 26,000; SENSEX falls nearly 600 points

Indian equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Thursday, as all sectoral indices finished in the red, with broad-based selling and profit booking at record-high levels. Indices made a negative start and remained under selling pressure throughout the session, as traders were cautious after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that further interest rate cuts are not guaranteed.

Sentiments remained downbeat as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 2,540.2 crore on October 29.

European markets were trading in red ahead of European Central Bank’s interest-rate decision later in the day. Asian markets ended mostly in red after Bank of Japan left interest rate unchanged as expected but hinted at future hikes as inflation remains above target.

The SENSEX ended at 84404.46, down by 592.67 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 84312.65 and 84906.95. 7 stocks were advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid-cap index was up by 0.77 points, while Small-cap index was down by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.28%, Oil & Gas up by 0.17%, Capital Goods up by 0.14%, Realty up by 0.04% and Energy up by 0.04% while, Telecom down by 2.52%, TECK down by 1.02%, Bankex down by 0.72%, IT down by 0.52% and FMCG down by 0.48% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The NIFTY50 ended at 25877.85, down by 176.05 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 25845.25 and 26032.05. 12 stocks were advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.49%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.74%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.66%, Hindalco up by 0.60% and Nestle up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 3.89%, Cipla down by 2.59%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.63% and Inter globe Aviation down by 1.51% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; France’s CAC fell 44.08 points or 0.54% to 8,156.80, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 39.84 points or 0.41% to 9,716.30 and Germany’s DAX lost 15.21 points or 0.06% to 24,109.00.