By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equity markets closed in the red Thursday ahead of the release of weekly inflation data. In extremely volatile trade, realty, IT and healthcare stocks dragged the markets down.
The 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened at 14,895.85 points, touched a low of 14,766.01 before closing at 14,899.10. It went down by 150.76 points or 1.00 percent compared to its closing figure Wednesday.
The S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange, which opened at 4,512.95 points, closed at 4,447.75 points. It went down by 56.25 points or 1.25 percent from its previous close.
The BSE Midcap index, which closed at 5,829.17 points, went down by 7.84 points or 0.13 percent.
The BSE Smallcap index, which closed at 6,974.37 points, went down by 8.02 points or 0.11 percent.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,332 shares advanced, 1,259 declined and 94 maintained status quo.
Top gainers of the day included Maruti Suzuki at Rs.664.45 up 2.39 percent, Hindalco at Rs.123.65 up 2.39 percent and Jaiprakash Associate at Rs.173.65 up 1.79 percent. Top losers included Sterlite at Rs.636.60 down 3.69 percent, ONGC at Rs.1,101.55 down 2.97 percent and HDFC Bank at Rs.1,341.45 down 2.80 percent.