After a bright start, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday pared gains for the second consecutive day, losing over 193 points, with the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections casting a shadow on trading sentiment.
After a bright start, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday pared gains for the second consecutive day, losing over 193 points, with the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections casting a shadow on trading sentiment.
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The Sensex, which opened higher by 1.3 per cent, wiped off the day's gains to end lower by 193.44 points, or 1.63 per cent, at 11,682.99 with all the sectoral indices ending lower. The key index touched the day's low of 11,621.30 and rose to a high of 12,026.60.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 66.10 points at 3,554.60, after touching a low of 3,534.55.
In the 30-BSE benchmark, 24 shares quoted lower while six were positive. The precipitate fall in the market was partly checked after shares of leading private lender ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank recorded gains.
Marketmen said the benchmark, which was up about 50 per cent from its 2009 low in early March, rose 1.3 per cent in early deals, but fell as investors were concerned that the poll results might throw up an unstable coalition.
They said despite the widespread caution, some investors who had missed the nine-week rally were trying to make amends by building up long positions.
The fall in the Sensex was partly checked after the Sensex-heavy private lender ICICI Bank climbed Rs 2.85 to Rs 523.45 on reports of Singapore's Temasek proposing to raise its stake in the bank and if it would trigger the open offer. The stock has advanced 19 per cent this year, compared with the Sensex s 22 per cent gain.
The realty sector index suffered the most, losing 5.19 per cent to 2,233.27, followed by consumer durables, which was down 2.59 per cent to 1,898.01.
The capital goods index fell 2.48 per cent to 8.296.13, power 1.88 per cent to 2,135.48, teck 1.77 per cent to 2,187.31 and metals 1.72 per cent to 7,813.17.
The oil and gas index fell 1.65 per cent to 8,329.70, PSU 1.63 per cent to 5,998.88, FMCG 1.09 per cent to 2,070.61, healthcare 1.06 per cent to 3,089.47, IT 1.05 per cent to 2,696.71, banks 0.75 per cent to 5,962.56 and auto 0.55 per cent to 3,631.99.
With selling spread widely, the smallcap index fell 2.15 per cent to 4,185.32 and midcap index 1.56 per cent to 3,711.42 points.
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