Sensex falls 91 points, Nifty holds 17,200; SBI, ITC, NTPC, Tech Mahindra top losers

Benchmark indices snapped two days of gaining streak today due to profit booking in HDFC Bank, SBI and ITC. Sensex ended 90.99 points lower at 57,806.49 in volatile trade. Similarly, Nifty fell 19.65 points to 17,213.60.

SBI was the top  Sensex loser, falling 1.45  per cent, followed by ITC, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and M&M. Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's and Bajaj Finserv were the top gainers, rising up to 2.86%.

Of 30 Sensex stocks, 19 ended in the red.

Markets were choppy throughout the session following a weak trend in global markets, experts said.

There are two divergent trends in the governments' and market's response to the Omicron variant, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Governments, globally, are responding with caution and imposing some restrictions. In India too Maharashtra and Delhi have imposed some restrictions in the context of rising cases. But the markets have responded to the Omicron variant assuming that this marks the last phase of the pandemic," he said.

On Tuesday, benchmark indices closed higher for the second straight session, led by gains in consumer durables, capital goods and IT stocks. Sensex closed 477 points higher at 57,897, and Nifty ended 147 points higher at 17,233.

Asian Paints was the top  Sensex gainer, rising 2.85 per cent, followed by     Sun Pharma, M&M and UltraTech Cement. IndusInd Bank, and PowerGrid were the only Sensex losers falling up to 0.29%.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with losses. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.11 per cent to USD 78.76 per barrel. "Rising crude is a macro headwind." said Vijayakumar