Sensex ends 580 pts lower amid weak global cues, Nifty settles at 12,772

The domestic equity market fell over 1 per cent on Thursday as investors booked profit amid weak global cues. Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex ended at 43,600, down 580 points, or 1.31 per cent while NSE's Nifty settled at 12,772, down 167 points, or 1.29 per cent. 

HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Infosys were the major contributors to the Sensex's fall. In the intra-day session, Sensex hit a fresh high of 44,230 before retreating later. 

Sectorally, barring Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Media, all other sectoral indices ended in the red. Nifty Bank fell 2.85 per cent to 28,903 levels with all the 12 constituents declining. Nifty FMCG, on the other hand, rose 0.43 per cent to 31,085 levels. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index dropped 0.65 per cent to 16,238 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 16,059, up 0.03 per cent. 

Global markets

World stocks eased for the third day in a row and oil fell on Thursday tracking overnight weakness in Asia and Wall Street as widening Covid-19 restrictions weighed on market sentiment.

Positive news about potential vaccines had helped push the MSCI World Index to a record high earlier in the week, only to see investors pull back as a host of countries announced record infection rates and tougher lockdowns.

In Europe, too, stocks opened lower. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.7 per cent at the time of writing this report, with growth-sensitive oil and gas, banking, and mining sectors leading early losses.

(With inputs from Reuters)