Markets end in red dragged by heavyweights; HDFC dips 3%

Benchmark shares indices ended lower on Thursday as investors booked profits ahead of the fourth quarter earnings dragged by index heavyweights with HDFC declining the most.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended down 215 points at 24,685 and the Nifty50 settled 68 points lower at 7,546.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended with marginal losses. Market breadth ended weak with 1337 losers and 1148 gainers on the BSE.

"Profit booking is seen at higher levels and foreign investors have turned net sellers in the previous sessions," said R Sreesankar, Head-Institutional Equities at Prabhudas Lilladher.

Foreign investors were net sellers in equities worth Rs 493.6 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Currency and debt markets will remain closed tomorrow on account of Gudi Padwa holiday while stock exchanges will remain open for trading.

HDFC was the top loser down 3% on reports that the mortgage lender is planning to make an additional one-time special provision of Rs 450 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2016, to further strengthen balance sheet.

ITC continued to remain weak and ended down 2% after the company recently shut down its cigarettes factories amid uncertainties over the health warnings on cigarette packs.

Infosys ended down 1.6% on the back of multiple block deals in the counter.

Around 5.6 million equity shares representing 0.24% of total equity of Infosys changed hands, the BSE data shows.

The IT major will announce its fourth quarter numbers on Friday on April 15.

Maruti Suzuki ended down 3% on concerns that the appreciating yen is expected to impact the company’s operating margins in the coming quarters. The Yen hit a fresh 17-month high against dollar on Thursday.

BHEL ended nearly 5% higher after the company said it has achieved the highest order booking in the last five years at Rs 43,727 crore for the year ended March 31, 2016 , a growth of 42% over 2014-15.

Tata Motors, which has been badly hit by the Supreme Court ban on selling high-end diesel vehicles in the NCR, is planning to down-size its diesel engines to skirt the issue.

The stock pared early gains to end 0.4% lower.

Among others, Tata Power and Adani Power ended over 3-4% lower after the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity had struck down regulatory powers of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and asked to consider case of cost pass through as "change of law".

The three-year-old tariff pertains to pass through of cost escalation due to change in imported coal prices and regulations in the Indonesian coal market. Both Tata Mundra UMPP and Adani power plant run on imported coal.

Diamond Power Infrastructure zoomed 11% after Kotak Mahindra Bank said that its subsidiary Kotak Mahindra (International) Limited has acquired stake in Diamond Power Infrastructure.