Sensex down 1.25 percent; FMCG stocks plummet

Mumbai  :  A benchmark index of Indian stock markets closed 264 points or 1.25 percent lower on profit booking on the first day of the new stock market trading year Tuesday.

The benchmark had crossed its highest ever closing mark in the special Diwali trading held Sunday at 21,239.36 points. The previous record high of 21,196.81 points was hit Friday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,134.10 points, closed at 20,974.79 points, down 264.57 points or 1.25 percent from the previous day’s close at 21,239.36 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,158.56 points and a low of 20,951.71 intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also declined. It ended at 6,253.15 points, down 64.20 points or 1.02 percent.

“Soft global markets and continued uncertainty about the (US) Fed’s taper programme have resulted in some caution in the markets on the first day of the new year,” said Dipen Shah, head, private client group research, Kotak Securities.

Heavy selling pressure was observed in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), healthcare, bank, information technology (IT) and capital goods. However, buying support was observed in public sector undertakings (PSUs), realty and power sectors.

The S&P BSE PSU index was up 9.06 points, followed by realty index which was higher by 3.78 points and power index, which gained 0.04 points.

However, FMCG index was 171.90 points down, healthcare index was down 150.44 points, bank index was down 122.27 points, IT index was lower by 108.42 points and capital goods sector was down 70.78 points.

Prominent Sensex gainers were: Hindalco Inds, up 1.47 percent at Rs.117.70; Coal India, up 1.42 percent at Rs.296.30; Tata Motors, 1.02 percent at Rs.395.15; Cipla, up 0.59 percent at Rs.420.60; and HDFC, up 0.49 percent at Rs.856.90.

Prominent Sensex scrips which closed in the red included ITC, down 3.52 percent at Rs.318.95; ICICI Bank, down 3.07 percent at Rs.1,095.85; Sun Pharma, down 2.96 percent at Rs.592.75; DrReddys Lab, down 2.88 percent at Rs.2,409; and Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), down 2.74 percent at Rs.2,042.05.

Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.17 percent up, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was lower by 0.65 percent, and China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.35 percent.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.55 percent lower, and Germany’s DAX Index was down 0.34 percent. The French CAC 40 Index closed the day’s trade 0.44 percent down.

Photo  : AFP