Sensex drops 335 points to finish at 37,736; Nifty tests 11,100 levels

(Representative image)

NEW DELHI: Equity indices finished in red for the second consecutive session on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 300 points dragged by financial stocks.
The 30-share BSE index fell 335 points or 0.88 per cent to close at 37,736. While, the broader NSE Nifty finished 101 points or 0.90 per cent lower at 11,102.
IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and SBI were the top laggards in the sensex pack falling up to 5.32 per cent.
While Sun Pharma, Maruti, Infosys, TCS and Reliance were the major gainers rising as much as 3.85 per cent.
On the NSE platform, sub-indices Nifty Media, Bank, Financial Services, PSU Bank fell as much as 2.28 per cent.
According to experts, market sentiment turned cautious as doubts rose on further deterioration of the asset quality of financial companies.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday left benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero and vowed to use all its tools to support the US economy.
“If the United States lowers the relief amount, consumption could weaken dramatically,” Rusmik Oza, head of fundamental research at Kotak Securities told news agency Reuters.
“Global markets are keenly watching what’s happening in the United States,” Oza added.
Markets also turned choppy on the expiry of July derivatives, traders said.
On the currency front, rupee fell 4 paise to close at 74.84 (provisional) against the US dollar tracking weak domestic equities and strong American currency.
Meanwhile, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 352.62 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.
(With agency inputs)