Nifty plunges 208 points, Nifty at 8,865; energy, pharma shares fall

Indian benchmark indices opened in red on Thursday (April 14) with the Sensex losing 208.73 points or 0.69% at 30171.08, and the Nifty falling 60.20 points or 0.67% at 8865.10. About 402 shares advanced, 318 shares declined, and 37 shares were unchanged.

Benchmark indices traded lower in the pre-opening session with the Sensex plunging 178.98 points or 0.59% at 30200.83, and the Nifty losing 100.35 points or 1.12% at 8824.95.

On Wednesday (April 15), equity benchmark indices erased early gains to close lower with the Sensex down 310.21 points or 1.01% at 30379.81, while the broader Nifty closing down 68.55 points or 0.76% at 8925.30. Major gainers on the Nifty were UPL, HUL, Britannia Industries, and HCL Tech, while Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC Bank were among major losers.

Among stocks, chemical major UPL gained by 10 per cent to Rs 357.40 per share. Hindalco was up by 4.8 per cent, Sun Pharma by 4.7 per cent, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank by 4.7 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.The other major gainers were Britannia, Hindustan Lever, Larsen & Toubro and Grasim. However, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Infratel, Bajaj Finance and Maruti traded with a negative bias.