Indian equities closed lower for the fifth straight session on Thursday, with the Sensex plunging 555.95 points amid persistent foreign fund outflows and investor concerns over the US H-1B visa fee hike, which weighed on market sentiment.

The 30-share benchmark index ended at 81159.68 down by -555.95 points or by -0.68 % and then NSE Nifty was at 24890.85 down by -166.05 points or by -0.66 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 81840.73 and intraday low of 81092.89 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 25092.7 and intraday low of 24878.3

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 1936.05,+0.31%), Axis Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1162.10,+0.28%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (Rs. 284.35,-3.05%), Tata Motors Ltd. (Rs. 664.25,-2.71%), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (Rs. 2960.35,-2.50%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 2402.95,-2.23%), NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 340.50,-2.03%), among others.

Metal index was at 33395.75 up by 56.47 points or by 0.17%. Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (Rs. 466.55,+3.01%), Vedanta Ltd. (Rs. 461.80,+2.95%), APL Apollo Tubes Ltd. (Rs. 1687.80,+0.71%), Hindalco Industries Ltd. (Rs. 744.45,+0.49%), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Ltd. (Rs. 136.45,+0.07%),.

Realty index was at 6797.12 down by -117.52 points or by -1.7%. Godrej Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1968.00,-2.52%), Lodha Developers Ltd. (Rs. 1151.50,-2.30%), Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. (Rs. 1537.80,-2.26%), DLF Ltd. (Rs. 720.75,-1.76%), Signatureglobal (India) Ltd. (Rs. 1078.05,-1.56%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4519 , shares advanced were 1561 while 2798 shares declined and 160 were unchanged.