The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a positive start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 22,567 level, a premium of nearly 37 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

The Sensex closed 200.85 points lower, or 0.27 per cent, at 73,828.91, while the Nifty ended down by 73.30 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 22,397.20. Both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell by 0.7 per cent each.

Sensex fell 722.36 points from the day's high to hit a low of 73,669.79, while the NSE Nifty dropped 236.7 points, weighed down by selling pressure in IT, bank and realty stocks.