Sensex closes down nearly 53 pts in volatile trade amid weak global trends

Mumbai, May 21 (PTI) Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by nearly 53 points in a volatile trade on Tuesday amid weak trends from Asian and European markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share Sensex declined 52.63 points or 0.07 per cent to settle at 73,953.31. During the day, it hit a high of 74,189.19 and a low of 73,762.37.

The broader Nifty of NSE, however, closed higher by 27.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 22,529.05.

Among the Sensex components, Nestle, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were the major laggards.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. European markets were trading in the negative territory. Wall Street ended mostly higher on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 92.95 crore on Saturday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.55 per cent to USD 83.25 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark climbed 88.91 points or 0.12 per cent to end at 74,005.94 in a special trading session on Saturday. The NSE Nifty advanced 35.90 points or 0.16 per cent to 22,502.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE conducted a special trading session in the equity and equity derivative segments on May 18 to check their preparedness for handling major disruptions or failures at the primary site.

Markets were closed on Monday due to general elections in Mumbai.