Sensex slips 56 points after six-day rally

Mumbai  : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday closed 56.15 points down, ending six days of gains. Capital goods, healthcare, bank and oil and gas stocks declined.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,779.74 points, closed at 18,846.26 points, 56.15 points or 0.30 down from its previous day’s close at 18,902.41 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 18,865.21 points and a low of 18,736.45 in intra-day trade. The BSE midcap index was up by 8.72 points, while the smallcap index was down 14.81 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed 21.35 points or 0.37 percent lower at 5,738.75 points.

On the sectoral front, the BSE capital goods index was down 150.19 points, followed by the health care index, down 54.68 points, bank index, down 49.90 points, and oil and gas index, down 54.68 points.

Among the main Sensex gainers were Tata Motors, up 5.52 percent at Rs.284.10; Wipro, up 1.97 percent at Rs.374.75; Bharti Airtel, up 1.90 percent at Rs.276.25; State Bank of India (SBI), up 1.32 percent at Rs.2,243.55; and Tata Steel, up 0.42 percent at Rs.403.65.

The major losers were Tata Power, down 2.12 percent at Rs.101.65; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), down 2.04 percent at Rs.1,634.40; Gail India, down 1.98 percent at Rs.358.45; ICICI Bank, down 1.48 percent at Rs.1,076.05; and Dr. Reddys Lab, down 1.35 percent at Rs.1,770.00.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei was down by 1.51 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended trade 2.41 percent lower. Shanghai’s Composite Index was down 1.63 percent.

The European markets fared better. At closing bell here, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.21 percent. So were Germany’s DAX, up 0.52 percent, and France’s CAC 40, up 0.41 percent.

Photo  : AFP