Sensex extends losses for second day; IT, bank stocks top drags

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| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Equity benchmark Sensex declined around 251 points on February 13, pressured by heavy selling in IT and bank stocks amid a mixed trend overseas.

A weak rupee further weighed on sentiment, traders said.

Sliding for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 250.86 points or 0.41% lower at 60,431.84. During the session, the index touched a high of 60,740.95 and a low of 60,245.05.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 85.60 points or 0.48% to finish at 17,770.90.

SBI was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.83%, followed by Infosys, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Axis Bank.

In contrast, Titan, L&T, NTPC, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, ITC and HDFC twins were among the prominent winners, rising as much as 1.97%.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices dropped up to 1.25%.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul closed in the red, while Shanghai settled higher.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in the afternoon session. The U.S. markets had ended in the positive territory on Friday.

The rupee fell by 15 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.34% lower at $85.23 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers in the capital markets on Friday, purchasing shares worth a net ₹1,458.02 crore, according to exchange data.