The Indian equity benchmark indices made a sharp u-turn Thursday and gave up initial hikes, closing lower for the third straight session. However, Nifty Bank rallied and managed to scale a record high, keeping the overall losses in check.

Among the 50 stocks on Nifty, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, Grasim, HDFC, and BPCL lead the gains, as each scrip rose over 2 to 7 percent. Leading the losses were Asian Paints, Hindalco, Infosys, Reliance, and TCS. Asian Paints tumbled 5 percent after posting a weak set of second-quarter numbers. Reliance Industries was under pressure ahead of its earnings on Friday. The stock declined 3 percent.

Among sectors on NSE, a strong rally was seen in Nifty Bank as the index closed above 40,000 for the first time, rising over 1 percent. Nifty Financial Services also rose a percent. Nifty PSU Banks were up almost 3 percent. Other sectors declined, with Nifty IT ending 2.5 percent lower. Nifty Realty was down over 1.4 percent and Nifty FMCG lost almost one percent. Nifty Auto also rose half a percent.

Globally, stocks slipped as the upbeat mood that carried the Dow Jones and bitcoin to records a day earlier ran out of steam. A pause in the oil rally also stalled the rising global bond yields.

Stocks in Asia were mixed Thursday as investors focused on China’s Evergrande Group crisis. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed half a percent lower. Japan’s Nikkei slipped nearly 2 percent, leading the losses in the region.

European stocks too traded lower, taking cues from the weak Asian session. Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures, were also lower despite an overnight strong finish.

Commodities also eased, with Brent crude futures down 0.2 percent after touching a three-year top and Chinese coal futures extending a sharp pullback after Beijing had signalled it would intervene to cool prices.

With inputs from Reuters

(Edited by : Yashi Gupta)

First Published: Oct 21, 2021, 03:46 PMIST