The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Thursday ahead of weekly expiry of indexc futures an option contracts as traders booked profits at higher levels after a recent Budget rally. The Sensex fell as much as 283 points to hit an intraday low of 59,275 and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 17,702.
As of 2:23 pm, the Sensex was down 579 points at 58,979 and Nifty 50 index declined 167 points to 17,612.
"On technical grounds, Nifty has an immediate resistance at 17,850. If Nifty closes above that, further upside can be expected towards 17,930-18,000 mark. On the flip side 17,700-17,630 will act as strong support levels," Nirmal Bang said in a note to its clients.
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Nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty IT index's 1 per cent gain. Select financial services, bank, private bank and metal shares were also facing selling pressure.
On the other hand, PSU bank, consumer durables, real estate and auto shares were witnessing buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap shares were trading mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.3 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 100 index was trading on a flat note.
HDFC was top Nifty loser, the stock fell nearly 2 per cent to Rs 2,562. Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, SBI Life, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, ONGC, Coal India and Hindustan Unilever were also among the losers.
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On the flipside, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Consumer Products, Asia Paints, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, ITC, NTPC, Titan and Cipla were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,665 shares were advancing while 1,251 were declining on the BSE.
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