Mumbai: Indian equity indices Sensex and Nifty dropped sharply on Thursday. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 settled down by over 1 per cent on the monthly futures and options expiry date weighed by weakness in global markets on Thursday.
The BSE Sensex plunged 1,190 points or 1.48 per cent to settle at 79,043.74. The NSE Nifty50 ended down by 360.75 points or 1.49 per cent at 23,914.15.
Stocks advanced on BSE, were 2,314 against 1,456 stocks that declined, and 151 remained unchanged. Total stocks traded were 3,921. The number of stocks that recorded a 52-week high was 176, and those that hit a 52-week low was 15. A total of 290 stocks traded in the upper circuit, and 199 in the lower circuit.
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46 out of the 50 constituent stocks of the Nifty50 closed lower. Top laggards included SBI Life, Infosys, HDFC Life, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Adani Ports. Top gainers were Adani Enterprises, Shriram Finance, State Bank of India, and Cipla.
Among the broader markets, Nifty Midcap100 and NiftySmallcap100 indices settled with marginal gains of 0.05 per cent each. IT stocks faced the worst hit among the sectoral indices, with the Nifty IT index ending down by over 2 per cent. This was followed by Nifty Auto, Financials, Private Bank, Consumer Durables, and Healthcare indices. Notably, Nifty PSU Bank, and Media indices managed to end in the green, with gains of up to 0.93 per cent.