Rally looses steam, Sensex closes 108 points lower

September 5, 2011 | Business | Written by

Mumbai, Sep 5: A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Monday closed 108 points lower, ending a three day rally that saw the index gain over 6 percent last week.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 16,678.34 points, closed at 16,713.33 points, down 108.13 points or 0.64 percent from its previous close at 16,821.46 points.

The Sensex had slipped to an intra-day low of 16,561.46 points, but pared its intra-day losses.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also ended in the red, 0.45 percent down at 5,017.2 points. The Nifty too had advanced over 6 percent in last week’s trade.

Broader markets edged lower but BSE midcap index managed moderate gains, ending the day 0.51 percent up.

Oil and gas, IT and telecom stocks were among major losers Monday, while consumer durables and auto scrips gained.

At the BSE, the market breadth was negative with 1,481 stocks advancing, 1,330 scrips declining and 117 remaining unchanged.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers, having picked up stocks worth $256.69 million Monday, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Prominent gainers included Hero MotoCorp, up 5.16 percent at Rs.2,174.35; Bajaj Auto, up 2.74 percent at Rs.1,668.05; Tata Steel, up 1.26 percent at Rs.494.65; and L&T, up 0.7 percent at Rs.1,620.55.

Among losers on the Sensex were Wipro, down 3.65 percent at Rs.321.90; ONGC, down 2.67 percent at Rs.256.85; Infosys, down 2.23 percent at Rs.2,263.85; and RIL, down 2.05 percent at Rs.788.90.

Other Asian markets closed in the red as traders stepped on the selling pedal, disappointed by US jobs data released Friday.

The benchmark Japanese Nikkei closed 1.86 percent down at 8,784.46 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 2.95 percent lower at 19,616.4 points.

Chinese stocks were also in the red. The Chinese Shanghai Composite index closed 1.96 percent down at 2,478.74 points.

Influenced by losses at Asian markets and weak job creation data from the US, which stoked fears about the health of the world’s largest economy, European bourses too were ruling lower.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 was trading 2.2 percent down at 5,175.64 points, while the German DAX was ruling 3.81 percent lower at 5,327.27 points.

The French CAC 40 was trading 3.67 percent down at 3,033.12 points.

IANS