Mumbai, Feb 17 (IANS): Consistent foreign fund outflows, along with flare-up in geo-political tensions between Russia and Ukraine dragged India's key equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- into the red on Thursday.

The FIIs were net sellers on BSE, NSE & MSEI in the capital market segment. They net sold Rs 1,242.10 crore worth of equities.

Globally, markets remained on edge on reports of skirmishes between Russia and Ukraine. On the positive side, the US Fed minutes indicated that while the central bank intends to shortly begin raising interest rates, its decisions would be data-dependent.

On the domestic front, volumes on the NSE in the cash market were dismal and were lowest for the calendar year 2022.

Amongst sectoral indices, banking and healthcare fell the most, whereas Oil & Gas and FMCG gained the most.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 57,892.01 points, down 0.18 per cent or 104.67 points, whereas NSE Nifty50 closed at 17,304.60 points, down 0.10 per cent or 17.60 points.

"Nifty ran into selling pressure at higher levels on a day when most other Asian indices were trading in the green," said Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

"Outcome of state elections and fears of interest rate hikes in India and abroad continue to plague the sentiments."

According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services: "Equity markets have seen a rise in volatility in the last couple of days due to varying news flows coming in from the Ukraine border."

"Nifty has been trading in a broader range of 16,800-17,400 and needs a decisive breakout on either side for a clear direction."