Sensex drops 291 points; Nifty ends below 15,100

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 291 points on Wednesday, weighed by losses in index majors HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank amid a negative trend in global markets.

Profit booking at higher levels led to the decline in benchmark indices, analysts said. Giving up the 50,000 mark, the 30-share BSE index ended 290.69 points or 0.58 per cent lower at 49,902.64.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 77.95 points or 0.52 per cent to 15,030.15. Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by HDFC, M&M, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Bank.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities, said domestic equities corrected after recording a sharp upswing in the last two days. Notably, profit-booking was visible in most counters.

Barring pharma, realty and IT, most of key sectoral indices traded in red, he added. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo ended on a negative note. Equities in Europe were trading with losses in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.96 per cent lower at USD 67.36 per barrel.