Sensex falls 87 points; FMCG stocks down

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets fell for the seventh consecutive session Wednesday as sentiments were affected by a possible announcement over US Federal Reserve's stimulus tapering.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,248.52 points, closed at 20,194.40 points, falling 87.51 points or 0.47 percent from its previous day close at 20,281.91 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,365.59 points and a low of 20,161.64 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE FMCG index fell 63.82 points, Bank index lost 75.23 points and IT index was down by 53.22 points.

However, automobile index increased by 54.44 points. Metal index was higher by 17.51 points and consumer durables index was up by 12.86 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 0.47 percent down at 5,989.60 points.

Major Sensex gainers were: Hindalco Inds, up 2.29 percent at Rs.113.75; Tata Steel, up 1.86 percent at Rs.358.85; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 1.83 percent at Rs.895.30; Sun Pharma, 1.61 percent at Rs.607.80; and Tata Motors, up 1.58 percent at Rs.365.75.

Major Sensex losers were: Gail India, down 2.43 percent at Rs.323.55; Seas Sterlite, down 2.24 percent at Rs.187.70; Cipla, down 2.00 percent at Rs.412.55; Hero MotoCorp, down 1.85 percent at Rs.2,000; and HDFC Bank, down 1.83 percent at Rs.634.15.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.15 percent down, China's Shanghai Composite Index was lower by 1.91 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 1.83 percent.