Sensex down by 645 pts, Nifty dips 204 pts at close
The benchmark domestic equity indices today slipped into negative territory, weighed down by weak global cues. The 30-share index at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, dropped 645 points, or 0.79 percent to close at 80,952. The National Stock Exchange Nifty-50 dipped 204 points, or 0.82 percent to settle at 24,610. The broader market indices at the BSE ended mixed. The Mid-Cap index declined over 0.3 per cent, while the Small-Cap index added 0.17 per cent.
In the Sensex index, 27 out of 30 companies ended with losses. On the downside, Mahindra and Mahindra fell almost 2.6 percent, Bajaj Financial Services lost 1.8 percent, and Tech Mahindra slid over 1.7 percent. Among the top gainers, IndusInd Bank rose over 1.8 percent, Bharti Airtel added more than 0.4 percent, and UltraTech Cement was marginally up by 0.1 per cent. In sectoral indices at the BSE, 19 out of 21 sectors edged down. In the top laggards, FMCG as well as Energy, both slumped 1.25 per cent each, Focused IT slipped almost 1.2 per cent and Oil and Gas lost over 1.1 per cent. Among the two gainers.
Telecommunication gained 0.31 percent and Services ended nearly unchanged. The overall market breadth at the BSE was negative as shares of 2,178 companies declined, shares of 1,742 companies advanced, while shares of 166 companies remained unchanged. At the National Stock Exchange, 45 companies hit their 52-week high, while 17 companies hit their 52-week low.