Sensex ends 38 points down; Bharti Airtel drops 3.85 percent

Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 38 points down Wednesday in choppy trade that saw realty and power stocks coming under intense selling pressure amid weak global cues.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,827.25 points, closed at 17,846.86 points, 0.21 percent or 38.40 points down from its previous day’s close at 17,885.26 points.

“Market closed negative on global cues. It may correct further till 5,380 Nifty and if broken till 5,330 whereas upside seems capped at 5,500 in this settlement,” said Kishor P. Ostwal, chairman and managing director, CNI Research.

The Sensex touched a high of 17,912.08 points and a low of 17,800.29 points in intra-day trade.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 0.15 percent down at 5,412.85 points.

The BSE realty index was down 16.10 points and so was the power index, down 15.97 points.

The biggest Sensex loser was Bharti Airtel, down 3.85 percent at Rs.248.70. The scrip dropped after foreign brokerage Credit Suisse downgraded the firm.

The other major Sensex losers were Sterlite Inds, down 1.32 percent at Rs.112.20; NTPC, down 1.32 percent at Rs.171.50; Gail India, down 1.04 percent at Rs.366; and RIL, down 0.90 percent at Rs.807.

The major Sensex gainers were Dr Reddys Lab, up 1.05 percent at Rs.1,676.50; Coal India, up 0.94 percent at Rs.355.35; Infosys, up 0.93 percent at Rs.2,429.40; Bajaj Auto, up 0.86 percent at Rs.1,726.75; and Hero MotoCorp, up 0.85 percent at Rs.1,935.10.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.27 percent while Shanghai’s composite index closed 0.50 percent down. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 1.06 percent down.

At closing bell here, European markets were in the red too. France’s CAC was down 0.91 percent. Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE 100 were down 0.98 percent and 1.21 percent, respectively.