Expiry of the January derivatives saw the markets decline by about 0.5 per cent on Thursday. The BSE Sensex was down 110 points (0.5 per cent) from its previous close and ended the day at 19,895. The wider Nifty settled at 6,035, skid 21 points.
“The broader indices did see some profit booking on the F&O (futures & options) expiry day. Nifty has been in a rangebound trade for almost a month now. There is significant loss of momentum,” said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.
On the BSE, the Realty Index was up the most at 1.4 per cent, followed by PSU Index was up 1.02 per cent and Consumer Durables Index was up 0.6 per cent. The Banking and Oil&Gas Index declined the most by 0.4 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, the top five gainers were BHEL, Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp, ITC and GAIL. The top five laggards were Tata Power, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries.
Meanwhile, speculative news about the Jet Airways and Etihad deal closing soon saw the stock of the Jet Airways to soar. The stock was up 4.3 per cent and closed at Rs 622.10 per share.