Sensex, Nifty close lower as oil, banking stocks decline

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed with losses in a choppy trade on Thursday as investors preferred a cautious approach ahead of inflation and industrial production data to be released later in the day.

Unabated foreign fund outflows also hit the investor sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 147.47 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 59,958.03. During the day, it declined 473.18 points or 0.78 per cent to 59,632.32.

The broader NSE Nifty fell 37.50 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 17,858.20.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and ITC were among the major laggards.

UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Maruti, Nestle and HDFC were among the major winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading higher in mid-session deals. Markets in the US ended in the positive territory on Wednesday.

"The US inflation data expected tonight will be market moving," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.41 per cent to USD 83.01 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 3,208.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.