Indian Stock Markets End Lower After a Volatile Session

Indian equity markets closed in negative territory after a volatile trading session. The benchmark indices opened higher but came under selling pressure in the afternoon, particularly in IT, automobile and metal stocks. The Sensex gained more than 800 points at one stage before reversing sharply and touching its intraday low. It recovered some losses towards the close but ended lower by 143.21 points at 73,709.69. The Nifty declined 77.60 points to settle at 22,811.

The Sensex opened at 74,337.93, touched an intraday high of 74,682.19 and slipped to a low of 73,229.45. Profit-booking at higher levels, Brent crude prices hovering around $110 a barrel and a 7.5% rise in the India VIX contributed to market volatility. Bajaj Finance, Eternal, Trent, Axis Bank and NTPC were among the Sensex laggards, while HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS and UltraTech Cement advanced. The rupee stood at ₹94.45 against the US dollar, while gold traded at $4,115 an ounce in the international market.