Sensex closes 372 points lower, Nifty below 17,800; SBI, PowerGrid & HDFC Bank top losers

Benchmark indices ended lower for the third straight session, tracking losses in index majors L&T, Infosys and TCS amid a negative trend in global markets. Sensex closed 372.32 points lower at 59,636 and Nifty fell 133.85 points to 17,764.

M&M was the top Sensex loser, falling 3.28 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, L&T, HCL Tech, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank. SBI, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and HUL were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.16%.

Of 30 Sensex stocks, 24 ended lower.

BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell 441 points and 445 points, respectively.

Likhita Chepa, Senior Research Analyst, Capitalvia Global Research said, "The domestic sentiment was impacted by the negative cues from other Asian markets coupled with inflationary pressures partially driven by a surging trend in energy prices."

On the sectoral front, capital goods, metal and auto stocks led the losses today. BSE capital goods index fell 547 points to 28,487, BSE metal index lost 540 points to 19,076 and auto index closed 629 points lower at 26,478. All 19 BSE sectoral indices ended in the red.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities said, "Markets witnessed selling pressure at higher levels as investors seem to be trimming their holdings in stocks that had risen sharply in the recent upsurge. The Nifty is still holding the lower top formation, indicating continuation of the weak wave in the near future. While the intraday texture is weak, for bulls the 50 days SMA and 17790 could act as a key support level."

The market breadth was negative with 1,001 shares ending higher against 2,339 stocks in the red. 122 shares were unchanged. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 269.20 lakh crore against Rs 271.08 lakh crore in the previous session.

Indian market closed lower for the second straight session on Wednesday, led by losses in banking, consumer durables and oil and gas shares. Sensex ended 314.04 points lower at 60,008 and Nifty fell 100.55 points to 17,898.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 344 crore on November 17, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 61 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

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

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.46 per cent to $79.91 per barrel.