Forecast of below normal monsoon this year coupled with heavy profit booking dragged the benchmark Sensex down from its new all-time high. Sensex slid by 188.47 points to 22,688.07 after touching a new record high of 22,939.31.
Shares of FMCG firms like ITC and HUl, whose sales in rural areas are linked with good rain, were hit the most. ITC was the biggest loser on Sensex and slid by 2.76 per cent while HUl fell by 2.58 per cent.In early trade, Sensex gave hints of breaching the all-crucial 23,000-level for the first time as it rose to a record high of 22,939.31. It, however, could not keep the tempo as intense selling emerged after mid-session, pulling down the index. The broader index Nifty also dipped by 58.05 points to 6,782.75. It logged its historic high of 6,869.85 during the session.
Despite the heavy sell off on equity markets, rupee snapped its three-day losing streak and appreciated sharply by 47 paise and ended the session at Rs 60.60 per dollar. As per experts, domestic currency rose after exporters, bank and corporates engaged in heavy dollar selling.
The dollar index was also down by 0.07 per cent, following new tension between Ukraine and Russia, this further helped rupee to appreciate, brokers added. The domestic currency started the day at Rs61.06 per dollar but declined to a low of Rs61.15 per dollar. It later recovered sharply to a high of Rs 60.54 per dollar. In the previous three sessions, the domestic unit had lost by 78 paise or 1.29 per cent.
Forecast of monsoon to remain below normal because of the El-Nino effect added immense presser on the stock markets. Despite posting 15 per cent jump in the standalone net profit, ICICI Bank's shares plunged by 2.29 per cent.