Sensex drops 91 points, Nifty ends below 17,250

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped by nearly 91 points on Wednesday due to profit booking in HDFC Bank, SBI and ITC after a two-day rally.

The 30-share index ended 90.99 points or 0.16 per cent lower at 57,806.49 in a volatile trade.

The broader Nifty fell by 19.65 points or 0.11 per cent to 17,213.60.

SBI was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1 per cent, followed by ITC, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank and M&M.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.

Markets were choppy throughout the session following a weak trend in global markets, experts said.

There are two divergent trends in the governments' and market's response to the Omicron variant, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Governments, globally, are responding with caution and imposing some restrictions. In India too Maharashtra and Delhi have imposed some restrictions in the context of rising cases. But the markets have responded to the Omicron variant assuming that this marks the last phase of the pandemic," he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended with losses. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.11 per cent to USD 78.76 per barrel. "Rising crude is a macro headwind." said Vijayakumar.