After a volatile trading session, Indian equity markets ended marginally lower on Thursday amid uncertainty in global cues and continued selling pressure in information technology stocks.
The BSE Sensex declined 150.63 points, or 0.20%, to close at 73,832.55, while the Nifty 50 fell 53.35 points, or 0.23%, to settle at 23,161.60.
The market also opened on a weak note, with the Sensex starting 367.19 points lower at 73,615.99 and the Nifty opening down 110.55 points at 23,104.40.
During the session, both benchmark indices recovered from their opening losses. The Sensex climbed to an intraday high of 74,394.34, while the Nifty advanced to 23,327.45. However, the gains could not be sustained, and both indices ended in negative territory.
Market breadth remained weak. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, only nine stocks closed higher, while 21 ended lower. On the Nifty 50, 18 stocks finished in the green, whereas 32 stocks closed with losses.
The information technology sector remained under significant pressure throughout the session, with major IT stocks witnessing continued selling. Infosys emerged as the top loser among frontline stocks, declining 2.71%.
HCL Technologies fell 1.95%, Tata Consultancy Services declined 0.78%, and Tech Mahindra slipped 0.67%.
Despite the broader market weakness, select banking stocks and a few heavyweight counters provided support. ICICI Bank gained 1.64%, while Kotak Mahindra Bank advanced 1.11%. Axis Bank also ended with modest gains, and Reliance Industries closed marginally higher.
Among other major laggards, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone declined 1.83%, Larsen & Toubro fell 1.48%, Hindustan Unilever dropped 1.40%, Bajaj Finance lost 1.56%, and Asian Paints declined 1.10%.
The session reflected a range-bound trend in Indian equities amid uncertain global signals, with weakness in information technology stocks offset in part by gains in banking and select large-cap shares.
