Extending losses for the fourth straight day, benchmark BSE Sensex on Wednesday dropped 117 points to close below 29,000-level at 28,883.11 due to profit-booking, particularly in capital goods and banking shares. In highly volatile trade in the absence of any major cues, metal, realty and healthcare stocks, however, recorded gains.
After resuming trade on a positive note, the index witnessed alternate bouts of buying and selling. Aggressive selling in the last half an hour saw the Sensex settling at 28,883.11, a loss of 117.03 points from its previous close. The Sensex has lost 798.66 points or 2.69 per cent in four days.
The CNX 50-share Nifty also declined further by 32.85 points or 0.38 per cent to end at 8,723.70 "Markets traded range bound for most part of the session, but selling pressure in the last half an hour pushed the key indices to the red. "It was a mixed sessions on sectoral front with metal, realty and healthcare ended in green while capital goods, banking, consumer durable and auto lost more than a percent each," said Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities.
Major losers were Axis Bank (4.64 per cent), BHEl (4.01 per cent), SBI (2.32 per cent), larsen (1.90 per cent), Tata Motors (1.69 per cent) and TCS (1.60 per cent) Hindalco rose by 3.89 per cent, followed by Tata Power 3.32 per cent, SSlT 2.87 per cent, Coal India 2.57 per cent, ONGC 2.53 per cent. Among BSE sectoral indices, Capital Goods fell by 1.88 per cent, Bankex 1.23 per cent, Consumer Durable 1.12 per cent, Power 1.14 per cent, Auto 1.09 per cent. Metal rose by 2.10 per cent.
The total market breadth remained negative as 1,557 stocks ended in red, 1,346 finished in green while 110 ruled steady. The total turnover fell to Rs4,216.08 crore from Rs 4,737.88 crs yesterday. "Weak Q3 results by banks were a major cause of worry for investors. Metal stocks rallied after spike in base metal prices and as more stimulus was expected for China," said Kiran Kumar Kavikondala, Director & CEO, WealthRays Securities.