Sensex, Nifty end in red in choppy day; UltraTech Cement, M&M, Infosys fall

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 18 (ANI): The Indian stock markets witnessed a choppy day on Friday with benchmark Sensex and Nifty closing marginally down due to selling pressure in some infra, energy, and auto stocks.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex closed at 57,832.97 points, which is 59.04 points or 0.10 per cent down from its previous day's close at 57,892.01 points.
Earlier the Sensex opened sharply down at 57,488.39 points, which also remained the lowest level for the day. However, the index traded in the positive during the afternoon session. It touched a high of 58,175.35 points in the intra-day.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange closed 28.30 points or 0.16 per cent down at 17,276.30 points against its previous day's close at 17,304.60 points.
The Nifty opened in the red at 17,236.05 points and slipped to a low of 17,219.20 points in the early morning trade. The Nifty rose to a high of 17,380.80 points in the intra-day.
There was strong buying support in banking and financial stocks. HDFC soared 1.25 per cent to Rs 2440.85. State Bank of India rose 0.52 per cent to Rs 515.45. Axis Bank rose 0.57 per cent to Rs 787.30. Kotak Bank rose 0.43 per cent to Rs 1826.15 and HDFC Bank closed 0.42 per cent higher at Rs 1512.65.
UltraTech Cement slipped 1.88 per cent to Rs 6915.55. Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.36 per cent to Rs 850. Infosys dipped 1.06 per cent to Rs 1707.10.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries closed 0.85 per cent down at Rs 2424.15. Bajaj Finance fell 0.74 per cent to Rs 7032.15 and Nestle India closed 0.69 per cent down at Rs 17960.20. (ANI)