Sensex, Nifty Decline For Third Day Dragged By Pharma Stocks

New Delhi: The Indian equity indices on Thursday continued to fall for the third straight session dragged by losses in pharma stocks. Investors turned cautious amid renewed fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 59 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 57,833; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 28 points or 0.16 per cent lower to end at 17,276. Both the indexes fluctuated between gains and losses throughout the session before settling in red.

Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.91 per cent and small-cap shares plunged 1.06 per cent.

11 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in red. Nifty Pharma, Nifty Auto and Nifty IT underperformed the index by falling as much as 0.87 per cent, 0.63 per cent and 0.44 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, ONGC was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.18 per cent to Rs 168. Divi's Lab, Cipla, UltraTech Cement and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) were also among the laggards. 

In contrast, Coal India, SBI Life, Bajaj Auto, HDFC and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) were among the gainers.

On BSE, the overall market breadth stood weak as 1,170 shares advanced while 2,182 declined.

On the 30-share BSE platform, UltraTech Cement, M&M, Infosys, Reliance Industries and Nestle India attracted the most losses with their shares sliding as much as 2.03 per cent.

Both the domestic bourses have witnessed a see-saw trade since the start of this week, taking cues from the global markets.

Meanwhile, foreign investors have sold a net $6.41 billion in Indian equities so far this year compared with net purchases of $5.82 billion in the same period last year.