Markets end in red; Sensex falls 269 points

Halting their record-breaking rally, equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure as investors pared exposure to oil & gas, capital goods and FMCG stocks amid a bearish trend in global markets.

Snapping its six-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 269.03 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 77,209.90. During the day, it tanked 676.93 points or 0.87 per cent to 76,802.

The Nifty rose 100.1 points to hit a record intraday peak of 23,667.10 earlier in the day.

However, it failed to maintain the momentum and slipped 65.90 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 23,501.10.

Among the 30 Sensex companies, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Nestle, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra and State Bank of India were the biggest laggards.

In contrast, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, JSW Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and NTPC were among the biggest gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 415.30 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.16 per cent to $85.57 a barrel.