Closing Bell: Indian market ends lower in a volatile trading session

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty fell drastically in the morning session on Thursday tracking weakness across global markets amid the FED rate hike concerns. Financial, IT, consumer and metal shares were the worst hit.

Benchmark indices closed lower with the Nifty index slipping below 17,200 in the highly volatile session on January 27. Adding to negative sentiment was the Federal Reserve, who in their policy outcome indicated interest rates hike soon.

At the closing bell, the Sensex was down 581.21 points or 1% at 57,276.94, and the Nifty was down 167.80 points or 0.97% at 17,110.20. The market breadth was negative, where 1447 shares have advanced, 1832 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty losers of the day were HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, TCS and Wipro. Top gainers included Axis Bank, SBI, Maruti Suzuki, Cipla and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

On a sectoral basis, the PSU bank index gained 5%, while auto and bank indices rose 0.3-1%. However, FMCG, realty, pharma, and IT indices dragged by 1-3%. Same sentiments were reflected in the broader markets as well with the BSE midcap and smallcap indices falling 0.8-1.2%.

In the buzzing stocks today was Axis Bank, up over 3%, followed by SBI, Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, Kotak Bank, Indian Oil Corp, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco. On the flip side, IT heavyweights HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and TCS -- were the major drags, down between 3% to 4%.

In global markets, the Asian shares fell to their lowest in more than 14 months, short-term U.S. yields rose to 23-month highs and the dollar strengthened after the Federal Reserve's chairman signalled plans to steadily tighten policy. Also, market participants turned cautious on rising concerns over political tensions between Russia and Ukraine.