Sensex ends down 173 pts
Realty, banks among key draggers
The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 18621 - down 173 points. Nifty ended down 54 points at 5,651.
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(updated at 1435 hrs)
Markets continued trading on a soft note with visible selling pressure in realty and banking shares. Weak global cues dampened investors further. BSE Sensex was down 153 points at 18,640. Nifty slipped 50 points at 5,655.
Asian markets dropped in trades with Japan slumping 2% on technology and steel firms taking a hit as concerns about growth and earnings weighed. Investors remained concerned about developments in Europe. Hang Seng, Kospi and Straits Times tumbled around 1% each.
Meanwhile, the rupee declined for fourth day in a row by losing 25 paise to Rs 52.97 per dollar in afternoon trade today, weighed down by dollar's gains overseas. Forex dealers said weakness in Asian currencies against the US dollar and demand for the greenback from importers put pressure on the rupee.
All the sectoral indices have dropped into the negative zone with the realty index slipping 4.3% to 1,809. Power, capital goods, bankex and PSU indices have shed around 1% each.
BHEL tumbled 2.3% to Rs 245. SBI slipped 2% to Rs 2,238. Other banks - ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were responsible for a 30 points loss on the Sensex. NTPC, Hindalco, Wipro and ONGC also shed in trades.
However, Hero MOtoCorp and Tata Steel held on to gains - up half a per cent each.
According to Chandan Taparia, Derivative Analyst, Anand Rathi Financial Services,"even after the market pressure, Tata Steel is holding the gains. It has seen Call writing at 420 strike so that zone is acting as an immediate hurdle. If it manages to hold 420 then it may see strong short covering move towards 435-440 levels."
BSE market breadth continued to be fairly negative. Out of 2,922 stocks traded, 1,882 shares delcined while 903 shares advanced in trades.