Markets fall for 5th day; Sensex declines 139 points in volatile trade

Mumbai, Feb 23 (PTI) Falling for the fifth straight session, equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Thursday amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates further to curb inflation.

Fresh foreign fund outflows and mostly weak trends in Asian markets also hit investor sentiments, traders said.

In a highly volatile trade amid monthly derivatives expiry, the BSE Sensex declined 139.18 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 59,605.80. During the day, it hit a high of 59,960.04 and a low of 59,406.31.

The NSE Nifty slipped 43.05 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 17,511.25.

In the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro, Titan, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, HDFC Bank and HDFC were the major laggards.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, ITC, State Bank of India, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, China and Hong Kong settled lower, while South Korea ended higher. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

European equities were trading mostly in the green during afternoon trade.

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated by 15 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.32 per cent to USD 80.86 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 579.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.