Mumbai, Nov 19 (IANS): Profit booking along with a global sell-off due to concerns over rising coronavirus cases pulled the Indian equity markets lower on Thursday.

Accordingly, the Indian equity benchmark indices snapped their four day gaining streak to fall the most in nearly a month.

In terms of global markets, buyers' sentiments were dented due to lockdown related fears.

Back home, NSE witnessed healthy volumes.

Segment wise, banking, auto, IT, realty stocks fell the most, whereas FMCG and media indices gained.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 166.55 points, or 1.29 per cent, to close at 12,771.70 points.

Similarly, the S&P BSE Sensex, which opened at 43,902.24 points, closed at 43,599.96 points -- down 580.09 points, or 1.31 per cent -- from its previous close of 44,180.05 points.

"World stocks fell for the third day in a row on Thursday tracking overnight weakness in Asia and Wall Street as widening Covid-19 limitations weighed on market sentiments," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

"There is a slight damage to the bullish sentiment in the markets. In case we do not get another negative trigger soon, we could recover from this setback."

According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research with Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd: "On the domestic side, markets hit a record high earlier in the session as investors bet on a faster return to economic growth following upbeat news on a Covid-19 vaccine."

"However, it fell sharply in the second half, dragged down by heavyweight banking and financial stocks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis Bank, which shed between 2 and 4 per cent. The Bank Nifty had climbed nearly 25 per cent this month."

In addition, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services: "The increasing virus infections raised fears of additional restrictions and considering its impact on global economic activity, global market sentiments turned negative. This was in spite of the optimism surrounding the advanced stages of vaccine development."

"Indian markets also witnessed profit booking from recent highs, as investors turned cautious. Financials led the losses while defensive sectors such as 'FMCG' and 'Pharma' fared better. The positivity in auto sales numbers continued and could be an indicator of economic recovery. However, increasing virus infections, which is again being reported in some parts of India, can offset this nascent recovery. We can expect short term volatility in the markets and investors are advised to remain cautious."