Snapping three-day rally, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 28 points on Thursday, on profit booking amid reports of rising food inflation.
The Sensex lost 28.31 points to close at 16,971.70 points as heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank lost ground. The 30-share index had gained over 740 points in the last three sessions.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 7.85 points to 5,080.25 points.
ADVERTISEMENT
Marketmen said investors were concerned over the rising food inflation, fuelling fears of tighter government policies.
Food inflation rose to 17.87 per cent for the week ended February 20 from 17.58 per cent in the previous week, the official data released on Thursday showed.
Weak Asian equity markets and a lower opening at Europe also influenced the market sentiment, brokers said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, 15 ended with gains while the rest closed with losses. Among sectoral indices, IT, tech, oil and gas and banking closed in the negative zone.
However, gains in realty, consumer durable, metal, FMCG, PSU, healthcare and auto stocks saved the market from any eventuality.