Sensex tumbles 379 points to end at 51,324; Nifty sinks 89 points

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India benchmark indices ended lower for the third straight session on February 18 amid weak global cues profit booking in auto, FMCG and private bank counters.

At close, the Sensex fell 379 points or 0.73% at 51,324, and the Nifty was down 89 points or 0.59% at 15,119.

Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, M&M and Tata Motors were among major losers on the Nifty. ONGC, GAIL, BPCL, IOC were among top gainer after the government announced Rs 7.5 lakh crore infrastructure plan in the oil and gas sector over the next 5 years.

On the sectoral front, Nifty PSU Bank rose 5.6%; Nifty IT, Metal and Energy indices gained 1-2%, while Nifty auto index slipped 1%. On the downside, the Nifty Financial Services, Auto, and Private Bank indices slipped up to 1.5% whereas Nifty Bank lost 0.88%.

Broader market bucked the trend as BSE Mid Cap & Small Cap index rose 0.7%.

Indian markets could not sustain early gains and started trading in negative zone in the afternoon session as selling pressure was witnessed following weak global cues mainly from western markets as investors awaited key economic data, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai ended on a positive note, while bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading in the negative terrain in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.48% higher at USD 64.65 per barrel.

(With inputs from PTI)