Sensex falls 200 pts dragged by realty, auto shares

Benchmark BSE Sensex reversed its early gains to close lower by 200 points on Thursday, marking its fifth straight session of losses due to selling in realty, IT and auto counters.

Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 200.85 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 73,828.91 with 22 of its constituents ending lower and eight with gains.

The index opened higher and hit a high of 74,401.11 in the late morning session.

The index failed to hold onto gains due to persistent selling in select bluechips and shed 259.17 points or 0.35 per cent to hit a low of 73,770.59 later.

The NSE Nifty fell 73.30 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 22,397.20.

In the session, the benchmark declined by 93.15 points or 0.41 per cent to hit an intraday low of 22,377.35.

From the 30 Sensex companies, Zomato, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki India, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Infosys were among the laggards.

In contrast, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sun Pharmaceuticals were the gainers.

“Shortened trading week and sell-off in the US short market are providing a hiccup to the global market.

“However, India is withstanding with resilience and healthy outperformance, by a narrow negative trend,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said, “On the weekly expiry day, markets remained range-bound and closed slightly lower.

“While positive global cues initially drove an uptick, selling pressure in heavyweight stocks across sectors pulled the Nifty into the red.”

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul settled lower.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent Crude traded 0.34 per cent lower at $70.71 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,627.61 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 1,510.35 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.