Closing Bell: Nifty and Sensex close in red; metal index shines

Equity benchmark indices erased early morning's gain to close lower as selling pressure was seen in auto, financials and select heavyweights

The Nifty Auto fell over 1 per cent and is also the worst sectoral performer in today’s trade. Among other sectors, Nifty Financial Services slipped by falling 0.88 per cent, however, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma surged as much as 1.21 per cent and 0.42 per cent, respectively. 

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, went up by 2.24 per cent to 24.75 levels. The Nifty 50 index ended in red losing by 69 points and closed at 17,245 levels. Bank Nifty has also dropped by 201 points and ended the day at 36,147. The Sensex settled at 57,684 falling by 304 points. On the other hand, the Sensex MidCap index has increased today by 92 points and ended the day at 23,793 levels, while BSE SmallCap has dropped by 5 points and closed at 27,847 at day end.  

On the BSE Sensex today the top stocks were Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Tata Steel, ITC, NPTC, and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, the top losers were HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and Maruti Suzuki. 

The total stocks traded today were 3,525 out of which 1,461 advanced and 1,937 stocks declined, 127 stocks were unchanged. The number of stocks that were locked in the upper circuit are 13 and 6 stocks were locked in the lower circuit today. The numbers of stocks that have made a 52-week high are 126 and 30 stocks made a 52-week low today.