Nifty ends below 10,700-mark, down 97.75 pts on global cues

NSE Nifty declined by 97.75 points to a three-week low of 10,671.40 due to losses in energy, PSU banks, media, infra, realty and metal stocks amid signs of escalating trade war between the US and other world economies.

The Indian rupee weakened to a 19-month low against the US dollar over concerns that higher crude oil prices will worsen the fiscal balance and accelerate inflation.

Further, traders opted for caution before the June expiry of derivative contract due tomorrow.

Overseas, the European markets bounced back from early losses, while oil prices climbed after the US moved to pressure allies to stop buying Iranian crude.

Asian markets closed lower as jitters over trade conflicts between the world's major economies lingered.

The Nifty 50 index fell by 97.75 points or 0.91 per cent to close at 10,671.40. It hovered between 10,785.50 and 10,652.40 during the session. It saw an intra-day movement of about 133.10 points.

Sector-wise, energy dropped by 2.46 per cent, PSU bank 2.43 per cent, media 2.12 per cent, infra 2.04 per cent, realty 1.79 per cent, metal 1.26 per cent, auto 1.25 per cent, financial service 0.86 per cent, private bank 0.83 per cent, FMCG bank 0.58 per cent and bank 0.67 per cent.

On the other hand, IT and pharma rose by 0.54 and 0.17 per cent, respectively.

Major index gainers were Tech Mahindra, Bharti Infratel, Dr Reddys, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Cipla, Sun Pharma and TCS.

Among the index losers were BPCL, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil, GAIL, ICICI bank, UPL, Larsen and Zeel.

The market breadth, indicating its overall health, remained negative, a total of 271 scrips advanced and 1,570 declined, while 51 remained unchanged.

As many as 258 total securities hit their price bands.

Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 28,955.70 crore from Rs 26,079.58 crore as on Tuesday.

A total of 14,111.21 lakhs shares changed hands in 1,12,11,375 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,42,68,490.04 crore.