By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities Thursday sagged 0.59 percent on global worries that the Greek debt crisis could spread to other Euro zone economies.
In highly volatile trade, the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,080.47 points, closed at 16,987.53 points, 100.43 points or 0.59 percent lower than its previous close at 17,087.96 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,090.85 points, a loss of 0.66 percent from its previous close at 5,124.9 points.
Broader market indices also closed in the red with the BSE midcap index ending 0.5 percent down and the BSE smallcap index closing flat, down 0.08 percent.
Top gainers on the 30-scrip Sensex were Cipla, up 2.93 percent at Rs.346.15; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.55 percent at Rs.232.40; Grasim Industries, up 1.09 percent at Rs.2,614.55; and SBI, up 1.07 percent at Rs.2,309.85.
Major losers included Tata Motors, down 2.52 percent at Rs.814.60; Reliance Communications, down 1.94 percent at Rs.157.05; Bharti Airtel, down 1.76 percent at Rs.292.25; and Wipro, down 1.66 percent at Rs.660.45.
The market breadth was tilted towards the negative with 1,360 scrips advancing compared to 1,467 stocks declining, while 111 remained unchanged.
Telecom, capital goods and metals came under selling pressure, while some health care and banking scrips were up.
Asian markets were in the red too.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.96 percent lower at 20,133.41 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index ended 4.11 percent down at 2,739.70 points.
The Japanese Nikkei, which opened after a long holiday, caught up with the negativity surrounding other bourses and fell 3.27 percent down at 10,695.69 points.
The South Korean Kospi too was down 1.98 percent at 1,684.71 points.
European stocks also opened weak but recovered at closing bell here.
The FTSE 100, the benchmark index of the London Stock Exchange, was at 5,357.95 points, up 0.3 percent, while its German peer, DAX, was trading 0.58 percent higher at 5,992.91 points.
The French CAC 40 index was trading 0.58 percent higher at 3,657.09 points.