Closing Bell: Market ends lower in a choppy trading session

The benchmark indices once again lose their footing into the negative terrain in late afternoon trade, dragged by oil & gas and pharma.

The benchmark indices once again lose their footing into the negative terrain in late afternoon trade, dragged by oil & gas and pharma. European markets advanced on Friday, with global sentiment hanging in the balance as the Ukraine-Russia crisis reaches a pivotal moment.

The Sensex closed with a slight loss of 59 points, or down by 0.10 per cent, and closed of 57,832.97. The Sensex MidCap index fell by 192 points and ended the day at 23,771.95 levels. The BSE SmallCap also declined by 224 points and stood at 27,748.30 at day end. The Nifty 50 index also slipped by 33 points and closed at 17,270.70 levels. Bank Nifty on the contrary was up by 52 points and ended at 37,584.05. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, went up by 0.73 per cent i.e. by 0.16 points to 22.16 levels.

The top gainers on Sensex were Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, and Dr Reddy Laboratory. On the other hand, the top losers on the UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, and Reliance Industries.

The total stocks traded today were 3,471 out of which 1,154 advanced and 2,201 stocks declined, 116 stocks were unchanged. The number of stocks that were locked in upper circuit are 249 and stocks that were locked in lower circuit today were 330. Today 114 stocks have made a 52-week high are 114 and 40 stocks made a 52-week low today.