Sensex falls 281 points, Nifty 50 ends at 24,288; mid, small-caps outperform

The Sensex closed 281 points, or 0.36%, lower at 77,728.16, while the Nifty 50 settled at 24,287.65, down 78 points, or 0.32%. The Nifty Midcap 100 index climbed by 0.05%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose by 0.36%.