Sensex falls 241 points to 14,060

Snapping a three-day rally, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today tumbled by over 241 points as bull operators booked profits following the 20 per cent surge since Friday. The Sensex, which had surged 20 per cent including the record one-day jump in history on Monday after the election results were declared, rolled back to show a loss of 241.37 points at 14,060.66 as shares of banks and refineries, and the tech and IT sectors declined.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 48.15 points at 4,270.30, after touching a high of 4,362.85 and a low of 4,244.70 points.

NSE broker Rajiv Malik said the previous session’s volatility and today’s fall were a correction to adjust the steep rise in recent times.

Blue-chip firms Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Infra, ACC and Wipro remained major gainers and prevented a major fall in the Sensex.

The banking index fell the most, 2.45 per cent, to 7,919.53, followed by the oil and gas index, which was down 2.09 per cent to 9,607.54.

ICICI Bank fell 6.56 per cent to Rs 708.80, Reliance Industries 3.78 per cent to Rs 2150.95, Infosys 1.90 per cent to Rs 1,534.10, HDFC 5.73 per cent to Rs 2,210 and DLF 7.77 per cent to Rs 354.80. All the five shares carry nearly 38 per cent weight in the Sensex.

Among other declining sectors, the tech index fell 1.33 per cent to 2,4712.72, the IT sector 0.02 per cent to 2,853.96 and the FMCG index 0.02 per cent to 2,112.10.