Sensex slips 83 points, metals, auto and durables dip

Mumbai  :  A benchmark index of Indian equities markets closed 83 points lower Tuesday as metals, auto and consumer durables stocks dipped on profit booking ahead of monthly settlement of the derivative contracts Thursday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,803.62 points, closed at 18,710.02 points, 83.42 points or 0.44 percent down from its previous close at 18,793.44 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,812.93 points and a low of 18,689.38 in intra-day trade. The BSE midcap index was down 15.66 points while the smallcap index was down by 18.16 points.

On the sectoral front, the BSE metals index was down 87.20 points followed by the auto index, down 82.60 points, consumer durables index, down 71.33 points, and information technology (IT) index, down 50.43 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 25.75 points or 0.45 percent down at 5,691.40 points.

The main Sensex gainers were Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 1.91 percent at Rs.1,700.00; ICICI Bank, up 0.53 percent at Rs.1,079.25; Coal India, up 0.18 percent at Rs.357.75; Hindustan Uniliver, up 0.16 percent at Rs.570.05; and Dr. Reddy’s Lab, up 0.13 percent at Rs.1,731.20.

The major losers included Jindal Steel, down 2.43 percent at Rs.390.90; Hero MotorCorp, down 1.90 percent at Rs.1,795.95; Hindalco Inds, down 1.56 percent at Rs.113.35; Infosys, down 1.42 percent at Rs.2,352.30; and ITC, down 1.29 percent at Rs.290.00.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.04 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.68 percent higher. However, Shanghai’s Composite Index was down 0.86 points.

At closing bell here, European markets were trading lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.16 percent. So were Germany’s DAX, down 1.30 percent, and French CAC 40, down 1.20 percent.

Photo  : AFP