Indian equity market fell on Thursday for a fourth session in five, with oil explorers leading the decline as global crude prices continued their recent tumble, while blue chips such as Infosys fell on profit-taking.

The BSE index Sensex ended the session down by 229.09 points or 0.82 per cent at 27,602.01. Similarly, the NSE index Nifty fell 62.75 points or 0.75 per cent at 8,292.90.

>Global stocks were down as the slump in oil and iron ore prices knocked resource-related shares lower and fuelled worries over the pace of global growth.

Sectoral indices

Barring healthcare, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Among them, oil & gas index fell the most by 2.48 per cent, followed by realty 2.03 per cent, IT 1.18 per cent and TECk 1.05 per cent. On the other hand, healthcare index was up 0.3 per cent.

Gainers, losers

ONGC (3.21%), Tata Steel (2.85%), Bharti Airtel (2.77%), Reliance (2.76%) and Tata Power (2.59%) were the major Sensex losers, while the top five gainers were Coal India (1.00%), Hindalco (0.91%), Dr Reddy's (0.86%), Maruti (0.53%) and BHEL (0.47%).

Early trade

The Nifty and the Sensex opened in the red on weak global cues. The Nifty opened 17 points down at 8,339, while the Sensex opened 35 points down at 27,796 before decreasing further.

Brokers' comment

Neelkanth Mishra, Managing Director and India Equity Strategist, Credit Suisse, said in the outlook for 2015: “Despite this steep rally, the valuation premium for India versus equities globally has not expanded as much; it is still only about 15 per cent off ten year lows, and significantly below the highs seen in early 2008. In many ways, the strength in Indian equities is backed by the rising preference for equities globally. Weighted average policy rates in nearly three-fifths of world economy are at 20bps, and the quantum of Quantitative Easing (QE) in 2015 is likely to be nearly double that in 2014.”

European markets

>European stocks were down, losing ground for the fourth session in a row as this week’s slump in oil and iron ore prices hurts resource-related shares and fuels worries over the pace of global growth.

Asian markets

>Asian stocks fell on Thursday as falling oil prices continued to feed into global growth concerns, while the dollar struggled against peers such as the yen and euro after a further drop in US bond yields.

US stocks

The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Tuesday following concerns about global weakness and political turmoil, while the Nasdaq edged higher along with tech shares and energy.

All three indexes pared losses after mid-day, with the S&P 500 cutting its decline in half. Apple shares were up 0.5 per cent and among the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Advancing issues now outnumber declining ones on the NYSE by 1,654 to 1,416, for a 1.17-to-1 ratio.

Small-cap stocks also bounced, with the Russell 2000 index last up 1.4 per cent.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 91.58 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 17,760.9, the S&P 500 lost 7.22 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 2,053.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 8.73 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 4,749.42.

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