Nifty falters ahead of F&O expiry, slides below 7,900 mark

Renewed bout of volatility ahead of the derivatives expiry dealt a fresh blow to investor enthusiasm as the benchmark Nifty shed over 33 points to close below the psychological 7,900-mark, amid weak overseas cues.
Technology, PSU banking and energy related stocks had a bad day and witnessed heavy unwinding from market players.
Trading mostly in a positive direction in early trading, bourses succumbed to intense profit-taking in mid-afternoon session on caution ahead of the expiry of December monthly derivatives contracts tomorrow.
Elsewhere, Asian equities ended on a mixed note, with South Korea and Hong Kong finishing in the red, while the Shanghai market ended on a positive note.

The Japan market finished its final trading day of the year with a solid yearly gain of 9.27 percent.
The 50-share Nifty opened higher at 7,938.60 and fluctuated between a high of 7,944.75 and a low of 7,889.85 before concluding at 7,896.25, registering a fall of 32.70 points, or 0.41 per cent.

Among the sectoral front, technology stocks suffered a big blow on Q3 earnings concerns in the aftermath of recent floods in Chennai and plunged over 1.21 per cent, followed by PSU Bank (1.05 per cent), energy (0.60 per cent), auto (0.35 per cent), Bank Nifty (0.43 per cent) and Pharma (0.29 per cent).

However, media surged 1.88 per cent alongside metal and FMCG, largely withstanding the correction.
Major laggards were Infosys, TCS, Reliance, SBI, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Axis Bank, L&T and Wipro.
Meanwhile, shares of United Spirits plunged over 1.95 per cent after the Diageo-owned company said it is seeking approval from its shareholders to report sick.
Notable movers included ZEE, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddys' and Tata Steel.
Turnover in cash segment climbed to Rs 14,636.06 crore from Rs 14,483.75 crore yesterday. A total of 8,904.89 lakh shares changed hands in 58,93,275 trades.

The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 97,72,881 crore.