Taking Stock | Market ends lower, pulled down by banks; power stocks shine

Taking Stock | Market ends lower, pulled down by banks; power stocks shine

In yet another volatile session on February 17, the Indian equity benchmarks ended lower amid uncertainty over the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

After opening on a positive note, the market swung between gains and losses throughout the session. At close, the Sensex was down 104.67 points, or 0.18 percent, at 57,892.01, and the Nifty was down 17.60 points, or 0.10 percent, at 17,304.60.

"Domestic equity remained volatile as uncertainty continued around Ukraine-Russia scenario as well as weekly index expiry. The Nifty opened positive but was unable to sustain at higher levels and nosedived into red," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"Global markets remained on edge after flare-up in geo-political tensions between Russia and Ukraine. On the positive side, the Fed minutes indicated that while the central bank intends to shortly begin raising interest rates, its decisions would be data-dependent," he added.

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank and UPL were the top Nifty losers. Gainers included Tata Consumer Products, ONGC, HDFC, Reliance Industries and HDFC Life.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Bank, IT, metal, pharma and PSU bank indices slipped 0.3-1 percent, while the energy index added 1.5 percent.

Broader markets also ended lower. The BSE midcap index