Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end lower as PSU stocks drag; BPCL, Coal India top losers

The benchmark indices ended marginally lower on Thursday, mainly dragged by PSU stocks after the government approved stake sales in some state-run companies.

Index heavyweights ITC, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Axis Bank also fell during the day, however, gains in HDFC Bank, HDFC and ICICI Bank capped some losses.

The government agreed to sell stakes in five state-run companies, including oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, a move that could help bridge a widening fiscal gap.

The Sensex ended 76 points lower at 40,575, while the Nifty50 index ended 31 points lower at 11,968. The Nifty Midcap lost 0.8 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap index declined 0.2 percent during the day.

Among stocks, Zee, Eicher Motors, Dr Reddy's Adani Ports and HUL were the top gainers on the Nifty50, while BPCL, Coal India, Tata Steel, Yes Bank and Bharti Airtel led the losses.

Major selling was seen in the Nifty PSE and the Nifty CPSE indices, down nearly 2 percent each, while the Nifty Energy also fell 1.5 percent. BPCL fell 6 percent post FM's announcement, while other public sector stocks like SAIL, Coal India, HPCL, PFC, NMDC, Oil India and ONGC were also in red, down between 1.5-5 percent.

The Nifty Metal also declined 2 percent, while the Nifty Auto was down 1 percent. The Nifty FMCG and the Nifty Pharma lost 0.64 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Nifty Media rose over 4 percent driven by Zee Entertainment, which surged 12 percent, after promoter Essel Group sold 15.72 percent company via block trades to meet debt obligations.

Jubilant Life Sciences gained 3.7 percent after China on Wednesday terminated its six-year-long anti-dumping measures on pyridine imports from India and Japan.

Meanwhile, global stocks slid further as the standoff between the world’s two largest economies extended beyond trade, reducing the odds of a “phase-one” deal this year and forcing investors to seek shelter in safe-haven assets.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.1 percent to near three-week lows, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbling 1.6 percent while Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.5 percent. Chinese mainland shares dropped 0.3 percent.