Sensex down 1%; realty, auto take the hit

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark, Sensex, fell for the second straight day by losing another 1 per cent on profit-selling as investors judged the 90 per cent rally as overdone.

The Sensex, which had lost nearly 55 points in the previous day’s trading, fell further by 173.53 points to 15,237.94. The index touched an intraday high of 15,600.30 and a low of 15,174.28.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty moved between 4,693.20 and 4,566.15, before ending with a loss of 54.30 points at 4,583.40.

Brokers said the upsurge in the benchmark by over 90 per cent since March was significant, which attracted profit-booking. The technical correction was so strong that even firming overseas markets failed to check the current fall. Funds and general investors sold most of realty, auto and technology stocks, which had gained remarkably in the last few sessions.

However, a firming trend in metals and refinery stocks saved the market from a major fall. Metal shares rose on the back of firming base metal prices overseas, while refinery scrips gained on rising crude prices. A measure of six metals, comprising copper, aluminium, lead, tin, zinc and nickel, rose 4.2 per cent yesterday at the London Metal Exchange. Infosys Technologies, Tata Motors, Bhel, Larsen and Toubro, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ranbaxy Labs, ACC and Bharti Airtel lost heavily. The realty sector index suffered the most, losing 2.49 per cent to 3,662.11, as segment major and part of the Sensex DLF plunged 5.80 per cent to Rs 368.50.

The auto segment index was the second-worst performer, losing 2.41 per cent to 4,897.83, followed by the tech index, which was down 2.40 per cent to 2,674.21. The consumer durable index also lost 2.29 per cent to 2,999.77.

On the other hand, the metal sector index gained 1.93 per cent to 12,220.45 and oil and gas index 1.38 per cent to 10,509.72.