Sensex closes down 53 pts in volatile trade

Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by nearly 53 points in a volatile trade on Tuesday amid weak trends from Asian and European markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share Sensex declined 52.63 points or 0.07 per cent to settle at 73,953.31.

During the day, it hit a high of 74,189.19 and a low of 73,762.37.

The broader Nifty of NSE, however, closed higher by 27.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 22,529.05.

Among the Sensex components, Nestle, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were the major laggards.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. European markets were trading in the negative territory.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 92.95 crore on Saturday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.55 per cent to $83.25 a barrel.