Mumbai: A key Indian equity index closed 219 points in the red Thursday as investors continued to sell stocks across the board. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 17,031.54 points, ended below the 17,000-mark at 16,789.74 points -- 219.43 points or 1.29 percent down from Wednesday's close at 17,009.17 points.The stock chart for 52-week is given on left. Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, ended in the negative at 4,995.8 points, down 1.34 percent. Broader market indices crumbled under selling pressure as well, with the BSE midcap index ruling 1.79 percent lower and the BSE smallcap index down 1.7 percent. The market breadth was negative, with 871 stocks advancing, 1,875 declining and 79 remaining unchanged. Among the gainers around this time on the Sensex were Infosys, up 2.13 percent at 2,211.50; ITC, up 1.58 percent at 247.55; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.44 percent at 278.05; and Bharti, up 1.2 percent at 336.60. Among the losers were Jaiprakash Associates, down 6.84 percent at 238.20; DLF, down 4.93 percent at 448.75; ICICI Bank, down 4.08 percent at 891.05 and L&T, down 3.86 percent at 1,608.50. Profit-taking hit other Asian markets as well. The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 66.22 points or 0.64 percent lower at 10,267.17 points. The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, ended 107.59 points or 0.48 percent lower at 22,210.52 points. At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the composite index closed 0.62 percent down at 3,051.41 points. The Kospi, benchmark index of the Korean Stock Exchange, also shut shop in the red at 1,630.33 points, down 23.53 points or 1.42 percent. Trading sentiment at European markets was bearish with the FTSE 100 index in Britain ruling 1.12 percent lower at 5,199.04 points and its French peer, the CAC 40, falling 1.47 percent at 3,816.1 points. Germany's DAX was ruling at 5,753.954 points, down 1.36 percent.