Markets halt 6-day rally; end marginally lower

New Delhi: Equity benchmarks snapped their six-session rally to close marginally lower on Thursday amid profit booking in banking and energy counters. Investors also stayed on the sidelines ahead of the RBI's policy meet outcome on Friday.

In choppy trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 51.73 points or 0.09 per cent lower at 58,298.80. During the day, it hit a low of 57,577.05 and a high of 58,712.66.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 6.15 points or 0.04 per cent to finish at 17,382. 

"Profit-taking finally came into play after 6-session gains, as rate-sensitive sectors like banking and realty faltered ahead of the RBI's policy meet outcome on Friday. Key indices pared most of their losses towards the end as strength in other Asian and European indices aided sentiment," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Among the Sensex constituents, NTPC, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Power Grid and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the laggards.

Sun Pharma, Nestle, Infosys, Dr Reddy's, Wipro and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major gainers.

"Taking positive momentum from the robust US economic data, the domestic market opened with gains, while worries over the US-China conflict kept investors on the defensive, leading to heavy volatility. Weak PMI and trade deficit data witnessed downside pressure on the Indian rupee and equity market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.

European stocks were trading mostly higher during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.28 per cent to USD 96.51 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets as they bought shares worth Rs 765.17 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.