Markets end lower led by banking, financial; Nifty settles below 17,250; Zee stocks outperform

24 Mar 2022 , 03:51 PM

Equity benchmark indices extended losses for the second straight day on Thursday amid rising oil prices. The market oscillated between gains and losses throughout the session before settling lower.

The frontline S&P BSE Sensex settled at 57,596, down 89 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 17,223, down 23 points or 0.13 per cent. The overall market breadth on BSE stood negative as 1,448 shares advanced while 1,940 declined.

The midcap and smallcap shares ended on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 index jumped 0.59 per cent and small-cap shares rose 0.43 per cent.

Among sectoral front, Nifty Bank fell most in today’s trade, down 1.72 per cent followed by Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Financial Services underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.62 per cent and 1.56 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma rose, as Dr. Reddy’s & Aurobindo gained over 4% each.

Kotak Mahindra Bank was the top Nifty loser, while HDFC Bank, Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Divis Labs, BPCL, Tata Consumer Products, BPCL, and M&M slipped.

Dr Reddy’s Labs was up nearly 5 per cent and top Nifty gainer today, followed by Coal India, Hindalco, Cipla, NTPC, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra and RIL.

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) closed higher after the company’s largest shareholder, Invesco, decided to withdraw its EGM requisition notice, which sought the removal of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) Punit Goenka from the board of ZEE.

On the international front, European stocks were slightly higher as investors kept a close eye on developments in Ukraine, and key meetings of NATO, EU and G-7 leaders in Brussels.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures traded above the $120 a barrel mark amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.