Sensex drops 111 points on FII selling, high inflation

Benchmark Sensex declined by 111 points in a see-saw trade on Thursday, marking its third straight session of losses amid continued FII selling, disappointing quarterly results and soaring inflation.

BSE Sensex dropped 110.64 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 77,580.31.

During the day, it dropped 266.14 points or 0.34 per cent to 77,424.81.

Broader NSE Nifty dropped by 26.35 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 23,532.70, extending its losing streak to the sixth day.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Nestle, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Adani Ports, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finserv were the major laggards.

Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC Bank were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,502.58 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 6,145.24 crore, according to exchange data.

Wholesale price inflation rose to a four-month high of 2.36 per cent in October as prices of food items, especially vegetables, and manufactured goods turned dearer, showed the government data released on Thursday.

Retail inflation breached the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, soaring to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October mainly on account of rising food prices.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Seoul ended in the positive territory.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.06 per cent to $72.24 a barrel.