Nifty ends below 8600 on F&O expiry day; Sensex falls 224 pts

The market on Thursday ended lower on F&O expiry day as the Nifty was down 58.10 points or 0.7 percent at 8592.20, while the Sensex slipped down 224.03 points or 0.8 percent at 27835.91.

Shares such BHEL, GAIL, ITC, Dr Reddy's Labs and Lupin were top gainers in the Sensex while Adani Ports, Wipro, Tata Steel, Infosys and SBI were losers in the Sensex.

According to Goldman Sachs, the Indian economy is expected to clock 7.9 percent growth in the current fiscal driven by better monsoon, government pay hike, key reforms and FDI inflows.

The global financial services major said the GDP is expected to improve gradually and for the April-June quarter it may slow a tad to 7.8 percent, in part due to unfavorable base. It had grown at 7.9 percent in the previous quarter.

"For the fiscal year 2016-17, we forecast real GDP to grow by 7.9 percent year-on-year, higher than consensus expectations of 7.5 percent and up from 7.6 percent in FY16," added Goldman Sachs in a research note.

Oil prices edged down again in the Asian markets, a day after suffering hefty losses in response to data showing a surprise jump in US stockpiles, while hopes for a deal to limit output were dealt a blow.

The US energy department said that inventories soared 2.5 million barrels last week, confounding forecasts for a fall and fanning worries about a global supply glut.