Sensex closes flat; IT stocks plummet
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Tuesday closed flat – down 23.94 points or 0.12 percent – after the central bank hiked a key policy rate by 0.25 percent to tame inflation.
The bearish market sentiments was triggered by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move that could make home, automobile and other loans costlier and further dampen economic growth.
The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,721,17 points, closed at 20,683.51 points, down 23.94 points or 0.12 percent from its previous day’s close at 20,707.45 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 20,795.35 points and a low of 20,554.28 intra-day.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 9.60 points or 0.16 percent down at 6,126.25 points.
Healthy buying was observed in stocks like metal, fast moving consumer durables (FMCG) and capital goods. However, information technology, healthcare and technology entertainment and media (TECK) stocks came under heavy selling.
The S&P BSE metal index grew by 158.65 points followed by FMCG index which gained 26.14 points and capital goods index, up 25.73 points. The S&P BSE IT index declined 100.23 points, healthcare index was down 78.77 points and TECk index was lower by 54.60 points.
The major gainers were: Tata Steel, up 3.49 percent at Rs.366.10; Hindalco Inds, up 2.52 percent at Rs.113.90; Sesa Sterlite, up 2.46 percent at Rs.199.90; Tata Motors, up 2.43 percent at Rs.356.25; and Bajaj Auto, up 1.69 percent at Rs.1,945.
The main losers were: Maruti Suzuki, down 8.12 percent at Rs.1,563.20; Axis Bank, down 3.28 percent at Rs.1,121.95; Sun Pharma, down 2.44 percent at Rs.582.90; Infosys, down 1.49 percent at Rs.3,677; and Cipla, down 1.30 percent at Rs.409.60.
Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.17 percent down, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.07 percent. However, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained by 0.26 percent.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.38 percent up. Germany’s DAX Index was higher by 0.58 percent and the French CAC 40 Index gained 0.63 percent.
