Closing Bell: Nifty, Sensex end marginally lower amid volatility; banking stocks take maximum beating

The Indian markets closed in the red on Thursday for the second day in a row after trading positive in most parts of the today's session. Following the trend from yesterday, when domestic equity markets ended negative in quick sell off in the closing hour, benchmarks Nifty and the Sensex declined 0.10% and 0.18 % respectively on Thursday.  

The barometer indices closed the day at 17,304.60 and 57,892.01 amid profit taking and reports of Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine accusing government forces of opening fire in their territory four times in the past 24 hours and claiming that Russian military activity near Ukraine was still high, as per Reuters.  

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Banking stocks were top losers on Thursday. ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank were among major losers on Thursday. Other stocks that dragged the market the most amid volatility were Ultratech cement, UPL, Nestle India, TCS and Sun Pharma.  

HDFC Limited, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consumers, ONGC, Reliance, HDFC Life, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and L&T were among top gainers on Thursday.  

In the broader market midcap and small cap indices corrected between 0.50 to 1 per cent. Banking indices, Pharma, media and healthcare were among the sectors that declined the most.