Sensex closes in red; bank stocks plunge (Roundup)

For the fourth straight day, a benchmark index of Indian stock markets Friday closed in the red on profit-taking in banking, consumer durables and oil and gas stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,785.20 points, closed at 20,666.15 points (provisional), down 156.62 points or 0.75 percent from the previous day's close at 20,822.77 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,821.01 points and a low of 20,600.90 intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also declined. It ended at 6,140.75 points, down 46.50 points or 0.75 percent.

"The week ended with losses of more than two percent on the benchmark. Weak global markets and reduced FII inflows were the main reasons for the weakness," said Dipen Shah, head, private client group research, Kotak Securities.

Heavy selling pressure was observed in bank, consumer durables and oil and gas stocks.

The S&P BSE bank index was down 160.34 points, followed by consumer durables index which was lower by 121.54 points and oil and gas index, which lost 103.82 points.

However, capital goods index was up 103.96 points, followed by metal index which was up 32.60 points and healthcare index which gained 29.61 points.

Prominent Sensex gainers were: Tata Steel, up 2.86 percent at Rs.355.60; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 1.84 percent at Rs.973.55; Tata Motors, up 1.29 percent at Rs.385; BHEL, up 0.74 percent at Rs.135.45; and Sesa Sterlite, up 0.50 percent at Rs.199.70.

Prominent Sensex scrips which closed in the red included HDFC, down 3.77 percent at Rs.809.45; Maruti Suzuki, down 2.17 percent at Rs.1,577.90; ONGC, down 2.15 percent at Rs.277.30; HDFC Bank, down 1.87 percent at Rs.652.90; and Mahindra and Mahindra, down 1.86 percent at Rs.879.05.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.00 percent down while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 0.60 percent and the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.09 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.68 percent lower, while Germany's DAX Index was down 1.04 percent. The French CAC 40 Index was lower 0.48 percent down.