Domestic stock markets closed Thursday's session on a negative note. The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 188.44 points, or 0.50 per cent, to end at 37,663.56. The NSE's Nifty50 index tripped 50.05 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 11,385.05. The equity indices were down today, tracking weak global cues on concerns over Turkey's financial crisis amid sustained foreign fund outflows. The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low of 70.32 against the dollar in opening deals as sentiment weakened after July trade deficit widened and as the US dollar continued to strengthen against Asian peers.
Top laggards on the BSE index were Kotak Bank (-3.62%), Vedanta (-3.05%), HDFC (-2.61%), Tata Steel (-1.87%), Larsen & Tourbo (-1.64%) and Wipro (-1.60%). HDFC, Kotak Bank, Reliance and HDFC Bank majorly contributed to the losses in Sensex. Prominent losers on NSE index were Kotak Bank (-3.71%), Vedanta (-2.84%), ZEEL (-2.59%), HDFC (-2.54%), IndiaBulls Housing Finance (-2.51%).
Kotak Mahindra Bank, the biggest drag on the both the indices, closed nearly 4 per cent lower. Kotak Bank fell to its lowest since early May after the central bank said on Tuesday that the private lender's preference shares issue to dilute promoter shareholding was not acceptable. Reliance Industries ended 0.9 per cent lower after the oil-to-telecom behemoth declared force majeure on gasoline exports from its Jamnagar site.
According to brokers, weak leads from other Asian bourses following Turkey's currency crisis and fears of an economic slowdown in China affected sentiment on Dalal Street.
On the other hand, major gainers in the Sensex pack were Sun Pharma (+2.98%), Bharti Airtel (+1.51%), Infosys (+1.17%), Tata Motors (+0.99%), Axis Bank (+0.90%) and Maruti (+0.79%). GAIL (+3.61%), Dr Reddy's (+3.47%), Sun Pharma (+3.19%), Lupin (+1.49%) and Infosys (+1.47%) led the gains in Nifty. (With agencies inputs)
