Sensex, Nifty end lower in see-saw trade; banking shares play spoilsport

Mumbai, February 17

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower for a second day on Thursday after a volatile trade triggered by a selloff in banking shares.

After oscillating over 700 points between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex finally ended 104.67 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 57,892 points.

The NSE Nifty dropped 17.60 points or 0.10 per cent to settle the day at 17,304.60 ndash; marking its second straight session of loss.

The Sensex pull-back was mainly staged by constant selloffs in banking shares, led by ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank. Of the Sensex constituents, 19 shares suffered losses.

Bucking the broader trend, index heavyweights HDFC and RIL rose up to 1.71 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets ended mostly higher in line with positive Wall Street after Federal Reserve policymakers indicated they are leaning toward more decisive action on inflation but set no firm targets.

Global crude oil benchmark Brent Futures fell 0.86 per cent to USD 93.99 per barrel on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,890.96 crore, according to stock exchange data.