Sensex ends six-day rally, down 50 pts

Sterlite, Hindalco, Grasim Industries, Reliance Communications among prominent losers. 

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index, or Sensex, snapped its six-day winning streak owing to weak triggers from the overseas markets. However, the Indian markets posted less losses than others. 

The index opened on a weak note, down 79 points at 16,185.26, following negative openings in the Asian markets. The index plunged to a low of 16,120 and continued to languish deeper in the red for the most of the day. The Sensex exhibited volatility and moved in a range of 132 points throughout the day. 

Asian stocks ended in red after the dollar fell to a fresh seven-month low against the yen. The Nikkei slipped 2.32 per cent and the Hang Seng dropped 1.08 per cent. The Straits Times was down 1.54 per cent. The Seoul Composite and the Taiwan Weighted indices declined 1 per cent each. The European markets started on a negative note with the FTSE and DAX declining around 1 per cent each. 

The Sensex exhibited lacklustre movement in the last few hours of trading and finally ended at 16,214.19, down 50.11 points, or 0.31 per cent. The National Stock Exchange Nifty finally settled at 4,808.60. 

The market breadth was positive. Out of 2,855 shares traded, 1,485 advanced, 1,301 declined and 69 were unchanged on the BSE today. 

Among sectoral indices, the BSE auto index was up 1 per cent while the consumer durable index slipped 1.06 per cent. 

Among the prominent losers on the BSE, Sterlite slipped 3.5 per cent. Hindalco 2.46 per cent, Grasim Industries 2 per cent, Reliance Communication 1.83 per cent and DLF 1.67 per cent. 

Tata Steel advanced 2.12 per cent, followed by Tata Motors (1.97 per cent), SBI (1.95 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (1.62 per cent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (1.44 per cent). 

Deven Choksey Managing Director KR Choksey said, “The markets remained subdued as they were waiting for a trigger in the form of advance tax numbers”. Choksey expects the Nifty to consolidate and move in the range of 4,730-4,890 in the next two days.