Nifty ends below 8600-level, down 71 points ahead of budget

The NSE 50-share index snapped 8600-mark, dropped 71 points at 8,561 as cautious investors booked profits ahead of Union Budget due tomorrow following all-round selling pressure mainly in IT, Pharma, PSU Bank, Media, Metal and Auto sectors.
IT stocks dragged markets in the wake of the H-1B Bill being tabled in the US house of representatives,which proposed minimum wages to be hiked to USD1,30,000 from USD60,000.
Overseas, European stocks were trading higher, as investors focused on data and earnings.
Asian equities declined following negative signals from the US market, spurred by concern that Donald Trump may follow through with isolationist policies, overshadowing a pro-growth agenda.

The NSE 50-share Nifty index opened lower at 8,629.45 and hovered between 8,631.75 and 8,552.40 before closing at 8,561.30, a fall of 71.45 points, or 0.83 per cent.
It saw an intra-day movement of about 79.35 points.

On the sectoral front, IT dropped by 3.17 percent, Pharma 1.69 percent, PSU Bank 1.51 percent, Media 1.35 percent Metal 1.05 percent, Auto 0.92 percent, Energy 0.85 per cent, Realty 0.64 percent and Infra 0.61 per cent.
Major index lossers were Infratel (10.62 per cent), Grasim (6.09 per cent), TCS (4.42 per cent), Hcl Tech (4.11 per cent) and TechM (3.46 per cent).

However, Idea rose by 12.69 per cent, followed by Indus Bank (1.00 per cent), ITC (0.78 per cent), BhartiAirtel (0.74 per cent) and PowerGrid (0.73 per cent).
A total of 1,245 scrips declined, 396 advanced, while 74 remained unchanged. Total securities that hit their price bands were 110.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 27,936.57 crs from Rs 19,953.40 crs yesterday.
A total of 19,317.19 lakh shares changed hands in 94,23,671 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 11,047,314.94 crore.