Indian shares ended Thursday's session in red today. BSE Sensex ended down 128 points to 61,431 and Nifty 50 closed sliding 47 points to 18,134.

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Among sectors Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank shed the most.

The top gainers were Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. While the top losers on Nifty 50 were Divis Laboratories and Adani Ports which shed over 3 percent followed by SBI Bank and ITC.

Shares of ITC fell nearly 2 percent after reporting Match quarter earnings. ITC announces a final dividend of Rs 6.75 per share and special dividend of Rs 2.75 per share.

"Optimism in global markets gave domestic indices a positive start. Nifty opened higher but gradually drifted into negative territory led by profit booking in index heavyweights. The index closed near the day’s low with a loss of 52 points at 18130 levels. Except for Financials, all sectors ended in red. Indian markets were dragged as profit booking emerged in SBI and ITC despite posting strong results. These stocks had already seen up move in anticipation of better numbers. Nifty is struggling for the last 3 days and is finding hurdles at 18,300-18,400 zones. Markets are likely to remain consolidative and take cues from global developments. Overall, we remain positive on the market and view the current decline as buying opportunity," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

On BSE Sensex, 16 stocks in the 30-share index traded with losses. Tata Motors, ITC and Titan, down 1.2 to 1.5 percent, are the top index losers. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank, up 0.9 to 1.2 percent, are the top index gainers.

On Thursday, Asian stock markets followed the positive trend set by Wall Street, driven by optimism that US political leaders would reach an agreement to prevent a potentially disastrous default on government debt.

Japan's Nikkei share average extended its winning streak for the sixth consecutive session, reaching a 20-month high. Investors reacted positively to chipmaking investment plans and reasonable April trade data. The Nikkei surged 1.6 percent, marking its largest daily gain since March 22. The broader Topix index also climbed 1.14 percent to reach a 33-year high.

In China, blue-chip stocks experienced a slight decline, but investors were eager to purchase banking and artificial intelligence (AI) shares following signs of the country's economic recovery losing momentum.

The blue-chip CSI300 Index in China closed down by 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index saw a modest increase of 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9 percent, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced by 1.2 percent.

European stock markets opened on a positive note, reflecting the upbeat sentiment from Wall Street. The optimism stemmed from indications that Washington was making progress towards a resolution on raising the US debt ceiling to avoid a default.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 staged a recovery on Thursday, aligning with the positive sentiment in global markets. However, shares of BT Group experienced a sharp decline, hitting a three-month low due to reported weak cash flows.

Rupee ended at 82.61/$ against Wednesday’s close of 82.38/$.

Also read: Stock Market Live: Sensex, Nifty 50 slide to day’s low, ITC falls 1.5% after reporting Q4 numbers

(Will be updated)

First Published:May 18, 2023 3:36 PM IST