Mumbai: Equity markets fell on Thursday, with the benchmark Sensex tumbling 542.47 points, amid profit-taking in blue-chip stocks and foreign fund outflows. Despite a positive start, the 30-share BSE Sensex failed to carry forward the momentum and fell later in the trade. The benchmark tanked 542.47 points, or 0.66 per cent, to settle at 82,184.17. During the day, it tumbled 679.42 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 82,047.22.

As many as 2,410 stocks declined, while 1,645 advanced and 166 remained unchanged on the BSE. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 157.80 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 25,062.10. From the Sensex firms, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Technologies, and NTPC were among the biggest laggards. However, Eternal, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, and Titan were the gainers. Infosys declined over 1 per cent amid profit-taking after its June quarter earnings announcement.

“Indian equities fell sharply today (Thursday), reversing previous gains despite positive global cues. Initial optimism around the India-UK free trade agreement gave way to caution as attention shifted firmly to earnings. The IT and FMCG sectors dragged down large-cap stocks due to subdued Q1 performance. Though the Q1 earnings are broadly in line, it does not justify the premium valuation...” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

India and the UK on Thursday inked a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) that will cut tariffs on British whisky, cars, and an array of items, besides boosting bilateral trade by about USD 34 billion annually. The deal was signed by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Jonathan Reynold in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Keir Starmer. The FTA is expected to benefit 99 per cent Indian exports from tariff and will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars, and other products to India, besides boosting the overall trade basket, according to Indian officials.

“Markets traded under pressure on the weekly expiry day, reversing Wednesday’s gains and continuing the prevailing downtrend. After a flat start, the Nifty gradually moved lower, primarily weighed down by persistent weakness in IT majors following Infosys’ results and profit booking in private banking stocks after their recent rally. As a result, the index declined by over half a per cent to close at 25,062.10,” Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.50 per cent and midcap index dipped 0.43 per cent. Among BSE sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT dropped 2.27 per cent, IT (1.90 per cent), teck (1.54 per cent), FMCG (1.09 per cent) and realty (1.03 per cent).