Equity indices close in red after choppy session, Asian Paints top loser

Equity benchmark indices swung between gains and losses on Thursday but ended lower with private banks suffering the most on profit booking.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 129 points or 0.38 per cent lower at 33,981 while the Nifty 50 dipped by 32 points or 0.32 per cent at 10,029.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed Nifty private bank down by 3.1 per cent, financial service by 2.7 per cent and realty by 1.6 per cent. Nifty pharma moved up by 2.1 per cent and IT by 1.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Asian Paints lost by 4.6 per cent to close at Rs 1,636.90 per share while HDFC dipped by 4 per cent. Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance slipped by 2.3 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

Private lenders had a bad day with IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank dipping by 3.5 per cent each, Axis Bank by 3.4 per cent, HDFC Bank by 2.6 per cent and ICICI Bank by 2.4 per cent.

However, Vedanta moved up by 7.7 per cent to Rs 104.15 per share and Bharti Airtel by 5.7 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma and Cipla too traded with a positive bias.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose to a two-month high as government stimulus expectations supported investor confidence in an economic recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic.

Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.36 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 0.17 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 0.19 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )