Sensex falls for second day, down 79 pts as ITC drops

Falling for the second straight day, benchmark Sensex today slipped by about 79 points to end at 27,346.82 as ITC shares dropped on worries related to proposed ban on sale of loose cigarettes amid weak global cues.
Domestic markets were also affected after the World Bank downgraded its forecast for the global economy this year. Besides, crude contracts suffered renewed declines after two members of OPEC said the group could not prevent prices from plunging further, despite losing over 50 per cent since June.
The BSE Sensex opened a tad higher at 27,432.14 and moved up to 27,512.80 on initial buying. However, it moved down afterwards to 27,203.25 before finishing at 27,346.82, showing a loss of 78.91 points or 0.29 per cent.

In two straight sessions, the index has lost 238.45 points, or 0.86 per cent.
The CNX 50-share Nifty also moved down 21.85 points, or 0.26 per cent, to close at 8,277.55.
Shares of ITC ended over 3 per cent lower today after the government proposed to amend the anti-smoking law and proposed radical changes, including ban on sale of loose cigarettes.

Metal shares declined sharply on heavy selling pressure, pulling down BSE Metal index by 3.50 per cent.
Veracity Broking Services, Head of Research, Jignesh Chaudhary said: "Indian local equities continued to trade weak today. Concerns over the global growth has dented the confidence of investors in equities. Copper and oil prices slipped after the World Bank cut its global growth forecast for this year."

During the day, government data showed Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation for December rose marginally to 0.11 per cent. A day before, retail inflation marginally rose to 5 per cent in December while industrial production grew by 3.8 per cent in November.
In the global scene, Asian stocks ended lower as commodity prices slumped. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea dropped by 0.18 per cent to 1.71 per cent.