An evening walk down Dalal Street

Bears had a firm grip on the market on Thursday, as selling in banks dragged equity benchmarks lower. The Nifty ended below 11,400-mark, while the Sensex fell over 180 points to end the day below 37,700. A weak rupee, which fell to a historic low, also added to the negative sentiment on D-Street.

Selling intensified in the last couple of hours of trade, which led to the downturn on the market. Banks fell on the back of weakness in Kotak Mahindra Bank, which faced a red flag from Reserve Bank of India for its preferential issue. Selling in the stock weighed on the banking indices.

Apart from that, selling pressure was visible among metals, which fell around 2 percent on Nifty Midcap index. Fall in shares of Vedanta dragged the metal index. Meanwhile, other sectors such as infrastructure and energy names were the other big losers.

The day began on a tepid note, following weak global cues. The fall in rupee to an all-time low of 70.39 and an opening low of 70.25 to the dollar also weighed on the stock. While there was some recovery for a brief period, resumed selling, especially in metals and banks, ensured that it was a negative end for the market.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex ended down 188.44 points or 0.50% at 37663.56, while the Nifty closed lower by 50.10 points or 0.44% at 11385.00. The market breadth is negative as 1,161 shares advanced, against a decline of 1,536 shares, while 150 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, GAIL and Dr Reddy’s Labs were the top gainers, while Kotak Mahindra Bank and Vedanta lost the most.