Sensex ends below 24K for 1st time since May 2014, down 100 pts

The sell-off in equity benchmarks continued for second consecutive session on Thursday with the Sensex closing below psychological 24000-mark for first time since May 15, 2014. Weak Asian cues and fall in crude oil prices dampened sentiment but recovery in Europe helped Indian equities trim losses in later part of the trading session.

Overall it was a volatile session as the Sensex gained more than 250 points in early trade but could not sustain those gains for long. Oil, pharma, FMCG and auto stocks dragged while banks and select technology stocks limited downside.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 99.83 points to 23962.21 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 32.50 points to 7276.80. The broader markets were mixed as the BSE Midcap index lost 0.3 percent and Smallcap gained 0.5 percent.

Hiren Ved of Alchemy Capital Management says it will take a while for the market to bottom out, but it is trading at an attractive level for long-term investors.

Asian markets extended losses in their afternoon trade with Shanghai sinking 3.2 percent followed by Hang Seng (down 1.8 percent to 3-year low) and Nikkei (down 2.4 percent) after Brent crude slipped below USD 28 a barrel, down half a percent to USD 27.74. However, European markets managed to recoup early losses ahead of first European Central Bank meeting of the year. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained 0.5-1 percent (at 16 hours IST).

On home turf, Dr Reddy's Labs was down nearly 4 percent due to sharp depreciation in Russian ruble against US dollar. Glenmark Pharma also lost 6 percent on same reason despite getting USFDA approvals for two generic drugs.

Banks stocks rebounded today on short covering with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI up 0.6-1.2 percent. Axis Bank topped buying list on Sensex, up 5.2 percent after better-than-expected earnings in Q3, though asset quality worsened.

In IT space, Infosys gained 1.2 percent and Wipro was up 1.8 percent following depreciation in rupee while TCS lost 0.7 percent.

Among others, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, HUL, ONGC, Cipla and Coal India were down 2-4 percent.

In broader space, Alembic Pharma rallied 5.5 percent on solid growth in Q3 earnings. Profit shot up 281 percent on strong US business, with revenue rising 81 percent year-on-year.

Exide Industries fell 4 percent after the company missed revenue estimates in December quarter, which fell 2 percent. Bottomline and operational performance was ahead of estimates. PK Kataky, MD & CEO said there was no significant improvement in demand for automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and industrial battery.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services plunged nearly 7 percent as its Q3 standalone profit halved to Rs 67.2 crore compared to year-ago period.