For the second consecutive day Sensex ended with a loss of 239 points on Thursday after banking, realty and auto stocks struggled owing to concerns over direction of the monetary policy.
The Reserve Bank on last Wednesday lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent and retained its neutral policy stance, but pegged its future action to more economic data.
Interest rate sensitive stocks -- banking, realty and auto -- continued their slide as the policy action failed to move investors.
On a closing basis, the 30-share index traded down 238.86 points, or 0.74 per cent, at 32,237.88 after hitting a low of 32,194.58. The gauge had lost 98.43 points yesterday.
The Nifty slumped by 67.85 points, or 0.67 per cent, but managed to close above the 10,000-mark at 10,013.65 after touching a low of 9,998.25.
lupin took the biggest blow plunging 3.80 per cent, followed by Coal India 3.36 per cent.
lenders such as HDFC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank too had a tough time, causing the maximum damage. State-owned PNB plunged 5.98 per cent and Canara Bank 3.27 per cent while country’s largest lender SBI lost 2.24 per cent.