Sensex slips nearly one percent; auto, bank stocks fall

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,978.19 points, closed at 19,817.63 points -- down 169.19 points or 0.85 percent from its previous close at 19,986.82 points.

The BSE Sensex touched an intra-day high of 20,009.36 points and a low of 19,783.02 points.

The BSE midcap index was down 97.76 points while the smallcap index was lower by 93.12 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed nearly a percent down. Nifty ended down 54.75 points or 0.90 percent at 6,001.85 points.

Investor and trader sentiment was apparently spooked by Reserve Bank Governor statement Tuesday that inflation numbers are still high; this dashed hopes of a rate cut when the central bank reviews its tight monetary policy Jan 29.

The Sensex breached the 20,000 points mark, the first time since January 2011, after

the government deferred implementation of the new tax avoidance law and possibility of a rate cut by the RBI after inflation figures showed a three-year low in December.

Major indices like automobile, bank, metal, capital goods and public sector undertakings (PSU) were hit by profit booking trend which led to a selling spree.

Twenty-four of the 30 scrips in the Sensex closed in red.

In the sectoral front, automobile index was down 278.89 points, followed by bank index, down 244.36 points, metal index, down 231.63 points, capital goods index, down 125.10 points, and PSU index, down 89.06 points.

Oil and gas index was up 38.26 points.

The major Sensex gainers were Reliance Industries (RIL), up 1.72 percent at Rs.860.40; Dr Reddys Lab, up 1.43 percent at Rs.1,926.05; Tata Consultation Services (TCS), up 1.03 percent at Rs.1,348.10, NTPC, up 0.19 percent at Rs.156.05 and Bajaj Auto, up 0.17 percent at Rs.372.70.

The main losers were Hindalco Inds, down 4.38 percent at Rs.123.40; Maruti Suzuki, down 3.43 percent at Rs.1,492.95; Tata Motors, down 3.24 percent at Rs.320.05; Jindal Steel, down 3.11 percent at Rs.429.45 and Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.95 percent at Rs.902.15.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei index was down 2.56 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.10 percent lower. The Shanghai Composite Index lost by 0.70 percent.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.53 percent and the German DAX was trading 0.22 percent lower. The French CAC 40 was also down 0.30 percent.