Indian equities marked their closure on a lower note on Thursday (Sep o4) ahead of inflation figures and the result of the crucial Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting.

Heavy selling activity was seen across realty, oil & gas, metal and FMCG stocks, whilst IT and auto stocks went up.

The Sensex closed the day after losing 150.76 points at 14,899.10. It also touched an intra-day high of 14,994.15 and an intra-day low of 14,766.01.

In contrast, the broad-based NSE Nifty fell 56.25 points at 4,447.75 after hitting an intra-day high of 4,514.60 and an intra-day low of 4,419.45.

The majority of Asian stocks closed negatively on Thursday, led by shipping and commodities companies, after marine transport rates dropped down on concern demand for raw materials will decelerate.

Overall market breadth was marginally positive. Out of the total 2,685 stocks traded at BSE, 1,334 progressed, 1,258 went down while 93 remained unaltered.

The gainers in the 30-share index included Maruti Suzuki India, which surged 2.93%, Hindalco Industries gained 2.39%, Jaiprakash Associates zoomed 1.79%, Tata Power Company climbed 1.70%, Grasim Industries profited 0.92% and State Bank Of India gained 0.91%.

The biggest losers in the Sensex were Sterlite Industries (India), which lost 3.69%, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation fell 2.97%, HDFC Bank declined 2.80%, Reliance Industries dropped 2.75%, ITC plummeted 2.62% and Hindustan Unilever dropped 2.49%.

For the week ended on August 23, inflationary data declined for the second time in a row to 12.34%, as against 12.40% during the last week. The inflation fell on account of reduction in the prices of primary articles.

Oil prices closed at their lowest level in five months on Thursday as a lower-than-expected drop in US gasoline supplies gave traders more reason to believe that a cooling economy is forcing Americans to drive less.