Sensex Falls 117 Points, Nifty Struggles Above 10,800

Domestic stock markets started Thursday's session on a lacklustre note tracking weakness in Asian peers. Selling in banking and financial services stocks pulled the markets lower. At 1:37 pm, the Sensex traded 117.61 points lower at 36,095.30 and the Nifty was down 43.20 points at 10,811.95. Top laggards on the 50-scrip NSE benchmark index were Hindustan Petroleum, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Grasim Industries and Indian Oil Corporation, trading between 1.48 per cent and 2.78 per cent lower.

TCS shares were up 0.33 per cent. The IT major is due to release its earnings for the October-December quarter after markets hours.

Shares in IndusInd Bank were trading lower over 2 per cent on both the stock exchanges, a day after the private sector lender reported a 5 per cent increase in net profit for the October-December quarter.

Crude oil prices jumped about 5 per cent on Wednesday after US-China trade talks raised hopes of easing tensions between the world's top two economies. Production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) also supported the oil markets.

The jump in oil markets put pressure on the domestic markets, according to analysts.

"Off late, oil has been an important driver in nudging the markets higher or lower. This is causing volatility," news agency Reuters quoted Anita Gandhi, whole-time director at Arihant Capital Markets, as saying.

"Broader market sentiment remains positive except that investors are now looking forward to the outcome of results."

Asian shares took a breather on Thursday after an extended rally. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.2 per cent, reversing course after briefly touching a near four-week high early in the session.

The Sensex and Nifty have risen for four consecutive sessions. On Wednesday, the indices closed 0.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent higher respectively.

(With agency inputs)