The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed at five-week lows after the US Federal Reserve Governor reiterated the possibility of raising interest rates in December, while caution ahead of Bihar state exit polls accelerated the selloff. Sensex ended 248.72 points down at 26,304.20. NSE Nifty closed 84.75 points down at 7,955.45.

“Markets opened on a negative note as participants adopt a sense of caution ahead of the outcome of the Bihar exit polls, which are due later today. The Nifty fell below the psychological 8000 mark and hit its lowest level in five weeks, closing the day with heavy losses of more than 1%. Foreign Institutional investors have been sellers in four out of the previous seven sessions, causing a further flight of bulls,” Shreyash Devalkar, fund manager – equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund said.

Shares of Tata Steel were trading ended 4.33 per cent down at Rs 225.60 ahead of its quaterly results.

In the 50-share index, Coal India (up 1.53 per cent), NTPC(up 0.63 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.61 per cent), Asian Paints (up 0.47 per cent) and BPCL (0.23 per cent) were among the top gainers. Sun Pharma (down 4.79 per cent), Vedanta Ltd (down 4.66 per cent), Tata Steel (down 4.61 per cent), BHEL (3.90 per cent down) and Bharti Airtel (down 3.35 per cent) were among the top losers.

All the sectoral indices ended in the red with BSE Realty (down 2.63 per cent) falling the most, followed by BSE Healthcare (down 2.07 per cent), BSE Bankex (down 1.47 per cent) and BSE Teck (down 1.41 per cent).

In line with the overall trend, small-cap and mid-cap indices also ended in the red with losses of up to 1.59 per cent.

The benchmarks tracked a mixed closing in Asia and a lower opening in Europe after US Fed Chair Janet Yellen reiterated the possibility of raising interest rates for the first time in almost a decade in December.

Markets through the day

3.30 pm: Sensex ends 248.72 points down at 26,304.20. NSE Nifty closed 84.75 points down at 7,955.45.

3.20 pm: Tata Steel shares were trading 4.20 per cent down at Rs 225.90 ahead of its quarterly result to be release later in the day. Sensex was trading 250.91 points down at 26,302.01. NSEE Nifty was trading 81.30 points down at 7,958.90.

2.54 pm: Bajaj Electricals shares were trading 4.29 per cent down at Rs 243.30 after the company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 11.26 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. Sensex was trading 170.42 points down at 26,382.50. NSE Nifty was trading 57.55 points down at 7,982.65.

2.25 pm: The BSE Sensex was down 0.54 per cent after hitting an intraday low of 26,373.48, its lowest level since October 1. Sentiment was cautious ahead of the results from Bihar state’s assembly elections. Exit polls are due later on Thursday and results will be out on Sunday.

“While Bihar polls will not impact national politics … they will influence the market’s perception of reforms,” analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a research report. Nifty was down over 50 points at 7,987.

1.48 pm: Dhanlaxmi Bank was trading 0.57 per cent down at Rs 26.15 after the Reserve Bank imposed Rs 1 crore penalty on the bank for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. BSE Realty index was down 1.40 per cent. Sensex was trading 124.96 points down at 26,427.96. NSE Nifty was trdaing 39.30 points down at 8,000.90.

1.21 pm: The BSE Midcap index and Smallcap index were down 0.64 per cent and 0.69 per cent. Chennai Petroleum Corporation and Sanghi Industries were down 8.76 per cent and 8.28 per cent at Rs 195.80 and Rs 62. Benchmark Sensex was down 77 points at 26,473.

1.01 pm: Sensex was down 91 points at 26,462 while Nifty was down 33 points at 8,006.85. In the 50-share index, Tata Power, NTPC, Power Grid, Asian Paints and GAIL were up between 0.40 per cent and 1.50 per cent. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank and Tata Steel were down between 0.80 per cent and 1.35 per cent.

12.39 pm: Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 3 gold related schemes – gold monetisation, sovereign gold bond and Indian gold coin – aimed at reducing physical gold demand and fish out 20,000 tonnes of idle yellow metal. Click here to know about all the three gold schemes.

12.19 pm: Mindtree shares jumped as much as 1.2 per cent on Thursday after the company informed BSE that it has been named a Top 10 Outsourcing Service Provider in the Americas and EMEA regions by Information Services Group (ISG), leading technology insights, market intelligence and advisory services company. Sensex was down 54 points at 26,499.04.

11.52 am: Meanwhile, the construction arm of Larsen & Toubro informed BSE that it has won orders worth Rs 2,048 crore across various business verticals in October 2015. The share price of L&T was at Rs 1,374.90, up 0.46 per cent, against Rs 1,370.50 on Wednesday.

11.43 am: Bata India shares were trading over 3 per cent down on Thursday. The footwear major on Wednesday reported a 38.74 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 54.11 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. Sensex was down 91 points at 26,461.

10.40 am: Shares of Ashok Leyland were trading 3.47 per cent down at Rs 88.95. The company on Wednesday reported over two-fold rise in net profit at Rs 287 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015. Sensex was down 157 points at 26,395.

10.23 am: Investors are cautious awaiting Bihar assembly polls outcome, as also weaker-than-expected Q2 earning by some bluechip companies impacting market sentiments, brokers said. Nifty was down 47 points at 7,992.60

10.11 am: Shares of Pratibha Industries jumped around 6 per cent in the morning trade on Thursday after the company informed stock exchanges that it has bagged an order worth of Rs 1,023.62 crore from Telangana government.

9.53 am: Sensex was down 101 points at 26451. According to the data released by the NSE, the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 487.39 crore in index futures and options segments, as per Wednesday’s data, November 04, 2015.

FIIs were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 293.97 crore and they sold index options worth Rs 193.42 crore. In the stock segment, FII’s were net sellers of stock futures worth Rs 34.48 crore, while they bought stock options worth Rs 84.33 crore.

9.44 am: The rupee fell by 16 paise to 65.65 against the dollar in early trade due to fresh demand for the American currency from importers.

9.31 am: State-owned IDBI Bank on Wednesday post market hours said it plans to raise Rs 2,800 crore from foreign investors or public offer, a move that will bring down the stake of the government in the lender. The share price of IDBI Bank was down 0.71 per cent down at Rs 84.20. 

9.18 am: Sensex was down 101.56 points down 26,451. Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were trading over 1 per cent down in the early trade.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a flat note on Thursday. Sensex opened 4.88 points up at 26,557.80. Nifty opened 9.85 points up at 8,030.35.

Asian shares stumbled on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said a December interest rate hike in the United States is a “live possibility”, sending short-term US bond yields to 4-1/2-year highs and pushing the dollar broadly up.

Wall Street shares also slipped on Wednesday, with S&P 500 Index falling 0.4 percent from a three-month high touched on Tuesday, driven by losses in the energy sector after a fall in oil prices.

(With inputs from agencies)