Mumbai, Oct. 14 -- Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower on Wednesday amid profit-taking after a sharp rally in the previous session, as a spike in wholesale price-based inflation and firm crude oil prices hit investor sentiment.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 251.89 points, or 0.34 per cent, to settle at 72,781.89. During the day, it hit a high of 73,195.26 and a low of 72,578.75.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 99.25 points, or 0.44 per cent, to end at 22,622.70.
From the 30 Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Eternal, ICICI Bank and InterGlobe Aviation were among the major laggards.
Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers.
Broader markets also declined as the BSE SmallCap Select index fell 0.72 per cent and the MidCap Select index by 0.14 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, Housing Finance tanked 1.12 per cent, Insurance 1.04 per cent, Healthcare 0.93 per cent, Auto 0.87 per cent, Hospitals 0.82 per cent, Realty 0.80 per cent and Telecommunication 0.73 per cent.
Utilities jumped 2.07 per cent, Power 1.74 per cent, IT 1.41 per cent, Energy 1.28 per cent, FMCG 1.14 per cent and Focused IT 1.10 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 0.36 per cent to USD 106.1 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,305.13 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.