Stock Markets end in red led by surge in crude oil prices, weak global cues

New Delhi, July 14 -- The Indian Stock Markets on Tuesday ended sharply lower led by a surge in crude oil prices following escalating tensions and weak global market cues.

At close, the Sensex was down 561.46 points or 0.72 percent at 77,054.94, and the Nifty was down 158.95 points or 0.66 percent at 24,052.05. The Nifty Midcap 100 index also declined 0.4% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 1%.

Among the sectors, Nifty Realty, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Auto remained the biggest losers declining more than 1%. Nifty Pharma gained 1%, while Nifty Metal ended 0.6% higher.

On Nifty, the top gainers were Bharti Airtel, Apollo Hospitals, Sun Pharma, TCS and Dr Reddy's Laboratories while on the losing end were HCL Technologies, Shriram Financ...