Sensex sheds 284 pts in a volatile session, Nifty below 18,800; IT, banking stocks drag

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty retreated from record levels and closed lower in a volatile trade on Thursday due to profit-taking in financials, IT and oil shares after a two-day rally and negative trends in the US and European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 284.26 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 63,238.89. The BSE benchmark hit an intra-day all-time peak of 63,601.71 in initial deals. However, the benchmark index faced volatile trends and declined 322.52 points or 0.50 per cent to a low of 63,200.63 during the day. The NSE Nifty closed lower by 85.60 points or 0.45 per cent to end at 18,771.25.