Taking Stock | Last hour selling drags indices; Sensex, Nifty lost 2% in April

Taking Stock | Last hour selling drags indices; Sensex, Nifty lost 2% in April

Indian benchmark indices ended lower on April 29, with the Nifty closing near 17,100 mark amid selling across sectors.

On the back of positive global cues, the Nifty started the May F&O series on higher note and remain in the positive territory, before witnessing profit booking in the final hour of trade.

At close, the Sensex was down 460.19 points, or 0.80 percent at 57,060.87, and the Nifty was down 142.50 points or 0.83 percent at 17,102.50.

For this week, BSE Sensex and Nifty lost 0.23 percent and 0.40 percent, while April saw a fall of 2.57 percent and 2.07 percent, respectively.

"Dips were encouraging investors to accumulate quality stocks with focus on defensives & domestic growth sectors like manufacturing & capital goods," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"However, a shrink in the US economy and rate hike expectations in the upcoming Fed meet triggered sell-off in the global market. Domestic market reduced exposure ahead of the shortened next week and opening of India’s largest IPO," he added.

Axis Bank, Coal India, Adani Ports, Power Grid and Bajaj Auto were among the top Nifty losers, while gainers were HDFC Life, Tata Consumer Products, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and HDFC