Sensex declines 143 pts on unabated foreign fund outflows

Benchmark Sensex declined by 143 points on Thursday amid continuous foreign fund outflows and mixed trends from global markets.

In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 143.41 points or 0.22 per cent to settle at 64,832.20.

During the day, it fell 206.85 points or 0.31 per cent to 64,768.76.

The Nifty dipped 48.20 points or 0.25 per cent to 19,395.30.

Among the Sensex firms, Hindustan Unilever, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and Maruti were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai settled in the positive territory while Hong Kong ended lower.

"Reflecting the mixed global sentiments, the Indian market is mired in a range-bound trend with the Nifty index not able to breach above the key level of 19,500.

"FIIs selling has moderated but inflows continue to be muted on concerns of an elevated interest rate and a global slowdown," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.99 per cent to $80.33 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 84.55 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.