Sensex slips 81 pts ahead of FY21 advance GDP estimate; midcaps outperform

At close, the S&P BSE Sensex was quoting at 48,093 levels, down 81 points or 0.17 per cent, amid sell off in information technology and FMCG stocks. Bharti Airtel (up 3.6 per cent) was the top gainer on the Sensex, followed by IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, L&T, and HDFC. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Nestle, Infosys, and ITC ended between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent lower.

The broader Nifty50, on the other hand, closed 9 points, or 0.06 per cent, lower at 14,137 levels. Out of the total 50 constituents, 27 advances on the Nifty while 23 ended the day in the red. The Nifty50 index hit a new peak of 14,256.25 in the morning deals.

Overall, market breadth remained in the favour of the bulls with nearly two stocks rising against a stock that declined. 

On the sectoral front, investors rotated funds out of defensives and bet on cyclicals as the Nifty IT, FMCG, and Pharma closed Thursday's trade in the red. The Nifty Realty index (up 1.35 per cent) and the Private Bank and PSB indices (up 1 per cent each) were the top performing indices.

The broader markets continued to outrun their large-cap peers. The S&P BSE MidCap, which topped the 19,000-mark for the first time and hit a record peak of 19,035, ended the day at 18,947 levels, up 1 per cent. The S&P BSE SmallCap index added 0.85 per cent at close to settle at 18,773.

Global markets

Global stocks rose on Thursday, reversing losses incurred on Wednesday. Europe's Euro STOXX 600 gained 0.3 per cent, with indices in Frankfurt and Paris up 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. 

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in almost 50 countries, rose 0.3 per cent.

Earlier, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent and Japan's Nikkei hit its highest since 1990.

(With inputs from Reuters)