Mumbai, April 30: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed nearly 1 per cent lower on Thursday as crude oil prices, weak global trends and foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 582.86 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 76,913.50. During the day, it plunged 1,237.5 points, or 1.59 per cent, to 76,258.86, but recovered some of the losses in the second half of the session.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dived 180.10 points or 0.74 per cent to end at 23,997.55.
Among the 30-Sensex firms, Eternal, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards.
Sun Pharma, Infosys, Bajaj Finance and Adani Ports were among the gainers.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 1.52 per cent lower at USD 116.2 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,468.42 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Markets in Europe were trading mixed. US markets ended lower on Wednesday.
The rupee on Thursday gained 4 paise to settle at 94.84 against the US dollar, tracking a correction in global crude prices and a weak greenback overseas. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.01 against the US dollar, then lost further ground to hit an all-time intraday low of 95.34 before closing at 94.84, up 4 paise from the previous close. (PTI)
