Profit-booking from operators in view of persistent foreign capital outflows and fresh fall in rupee value against the dollar, pulled down the S&P BSE benchmark sensex by another 77 points to close at 26,150.24 and NSE Nifty by six points to 8,074.10.
Sustained foreign capital outflows after hints of rate hike in December by US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen also affected the market sentiment.
The rupee touched below 68-level after nearly five months to trade at 68.18 during the afternoon trade as the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market today.
Foreign funds continued their selling spree, as they sold shares worth a net Rs 983.93 crs yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
The sensex resumed higher at 26,270.20 and hovered in a range of 26,349.02 and 26,106.78 before ending at 26,150.24, showing a loss of 77.38 points or 0.30 pct.
The sensex has dropped by 1,367.44 points or 4.97 pct in five days.
The NSE 50-share Nifty moved down further by 5.85 pts or 0.07 pct to end at 8,074.10.
In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend. According to minutes of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) most recent meeting, policymakers were ready to boost their 1.7 trillion stimulus again, if needed to ensure that Eurozone’s economy remains on its recovery path.
Key indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan rose by 0.15 pct to 0.89 pct while China and South Korea fell by 0.30 pct to 0.49 pct.
European markets were trading lower in their afternoon trade as key indices like France, Germany and UK moved down by 0.20 pct to 0.48 pct.
US stocks registered modest gains on Thursday as investors parsed through economic data and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony.
The BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally rose 0.61 per cent. The BSE Small-Cap index provisionally rose 0.25 per cent. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
In the domesic market, 16 stocks out of the 30-share sensex pack ended lower while remaning 14 stocks closed higher.
Major losers were Tata Steel 2.00 pct, ITC 1.92 pct, Gail 1.76 pct, HDFC Bank 1.47 pct, Adani Ports 1.25 pct, Asian Paints 1.20 pct, ICICI Bank 1.18 pct, Infy 1.05 pct and HUL 1.02 pct.
However, NTPC rose by 4.58 pct followed by Sun Pharma 2.62 pct, Bharti Artl 2.33 pct, Hero Motoco 2.15 pct, M&M 1.59 pct, Bajaj Auto 1.19 pct and Cipla 0.93 pct.
Among the S&P sectoral and industrials, Consumer Durables fell by 1.26 pct followed by Metal 1.19 pct, FMCG 0.96 pct, Bankex 0.60 pct, Teck 0.56 pct, IT 0.55 pct and Finance 0.30 pct, while Oil&Gas rose by 1.45 pct, Healthcare 1.29 pct, Realty 1.26 pct, Power 1.22 pct, Utilities 1.07 pct and Energy 1.06 pct.
The market breadth turned positive as 1,328 stocks ended higher, 1,253 finished in red while 166 ruled steady.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2,412.00 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 2,660.23 crore registered during the previous trading session.
