Sensex closes 141 points down; realty, metal stocks slump

Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets fell for the fourth straight day Wednesday, closing 141 points lower. Realty, metal and auto stocks were the worst performers.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,651.14 points, closed at 17,490.81 points, 0.80 percent or 140.90 points down from its previous day’s close at 17,631.71 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also closed in the red – 0.88 percent down at 5,287.80 points.

The BSE realty index was down 47.55 percent, metal index fell 179.86 percent, and auto index was down 129.42 percent.

The major Sensex losers were Sterlite Inds, down 4.69 percent at Rs.99.60; Bajaj Auto, down 3.96 percent at Rs.1,627.25; Hero MotoCorp, down 3.30 percent at Rs.1,849.65; and BHEL, down 2.89 percent at Rs.216.40.

Only nine of the 30 Sensex scrips were in the positive. Tata Power, up 0.87 percent at Rs.99.05; ITC, up 0.50 percent at Rs.269.40; Maruti Suzuki, up 0.50 percent at Rs.1,168.50; and Jindal Steel, up 0.31 percent at Rs.359.65 were among the major Sensex gainers.

Other Asian markets closed mixed. Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.40 percent while Shanghai’s composite index ended 0.96 percent down. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.12 percent lower.

Among European markets, France’s CAC was down 0.14 percent while Germany’s DAX was up by 0.10 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.17 percent.