The Indian equity indices ended in the red on Thursday amidst weak global cues after the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance on rate cuts as with moves towards maximum employment and price stability, its FOMC halved the number of rate cuts expected for 2025.
Sensex closed at 79,218.05 down by 964.15 points, or 1.20 per cent, and Nifty settled at 23,951.70 down by 247.15 points, or 1.02 per cent.
Experts argue that the market in the overall Indian economy felt the consequences of a general sell-off across the world, instigated by the hard stance announced on interest rates by the Fed in the United States. The sectors particularly vulnerable were banking and real estate sectors.
"However, the surprise move by the Bank of Japan to keep its interest rate steady helped ease the selling pressure. Still, investor caution continued as FII selling was on, and investors began to move to defensive sectors like pharma, as those sectors outperformed," an expert added.
Nifty Bank ended at 51,575.70, down by 563.85 points, or 1.08 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 58,556.25 after falling by 167 points, or 0.28 per cent.
Nifty Smallcap 100 index ended at 19,133.10 after falling by 97.25 points, or 0.51 per cent.
On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1,684 shares ended in green and 2,309 in red, whereas there was no change in 102 shares.
On the sectoral front, selling was heavy on the IT, metal, and energy sectors of the Nifty at close. Buying was seen in the pharma and healthcare segments.
The biggest losers in the Sensex pack were Bajaj Finserv (NS:BJFS), JSW Steel (NS:JSTL), Bajaj Finance (NS:BJFN), Asian Paints (NS:ASPN), ICICI Bank (NS:ICBK), Reliance (NS:RELI), TCS (NS:TCS), Infosys (NS:INFY), Tata Motors (NS:TAMO), and M&M (NS:MAHM). The major gainers in the list were Sun Pharma (NS:SUN), Hindustan Unilever (NS:HLL), and Power Grid (NS:PGRD).
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