Mumbai, Sep 21 (IANS): Domestic equities declined for the third straight day on Thursday after the US Fed’s hawkish stance in its policy meeting.

Nifty continued its downward journey to close with a loss of 159 points (-0.8 per cent) at 19,742 levels, while Sensex plunged 570.60 points (-0.85 per cent) to settle at 66,230, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Selling was seen across the sector including broader markets. Banking, auto, financial services, and realty were the major losers on Thursday.

The market fell by 2.2 per cent in the last three days amid profit booking at higher levels, Khemka said.

Uncertain global cues and persistent selling by FIIs are likely to keep markets under pressure in the near term. It would be better to prefer defensive sectors for some time until the market stabilises. Investors should also take cues from the Bank of England’s interest rate decision that is due later on Thursday, he added.

Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities, said that Bank Nifty experienced a significant correction during the day, with the banking benchmark index dropping below the 45,000-mark for the first time in several days.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is signalling bearishness with a bearish crossover on the daily timeframe. In the short term, it could potentially move towards 44,000 on the lower end, while encountering resistance at 45,000 on the higher end, Shah said.