Mumbai: Falling for a fifth straight session, the benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled by 378.14 points today to close at a six-week low of 25,743.26 as domestic shares fell on the last day of Samvat year 2071 post the outcome of Bihar elections and subdued quarterly earnings of key corporates.
Bears continued to hammer indices for a second day post outcome of Bihar elections as investors see possible roadblock to key economic reforms.
“Besides the overhang of the Bihar results, sentiments were downbeat in reaction to weak global markets and lack of buying interest among the participants,” said Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution at Religare Securities.
With markets ending in the negative terrain on the last session of the Hindu Samvat year 2071, the Sensex has dropped by 1,043.97 points or 3.89 per cent from the closing on Samvat 2070 (October 22, 2014). The NSE Nifty too registered a fall of 212.55 points or 2.65 per cent.
In a Samvat year, this is the third worst return given by Sensex in a decade.
The Sensex resumed lower at 26,094.09 and fell further to 25,709.23 before settling 378.14 points or 1.45 per cent down at 25,743.26, its weakest closing since September 28. The index fell 469.19 points in the previous four days. The 50-share Nifty fell by 131.85 points or 1.67 per cent to close at 6-week low at 7,783.35.
Out of the 30-share Sensex, 23 scrips ended lower. Major laggards were ONGC (4.90 pc), Dr Reddy's (4.80 pc), RIL (3.96 pc), Lupin (3.92 pc), Coal India (3.76 pc), Vedanta (3.68 pc), BHEL (3.28 pc) and Sun Pharma (3.24 pc). Bucking the trend, auto shares were in demand on strong performance during the ongoing festive season and robust sale numbers on Dhanteras yesterday.
Prominent gainers were Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and M&M that gained in the range of 1.13-1.68 per cent. Meanwhile, shares of IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Aviation debuted at Rs 856, a premium of nearly 12 per cent over the issue price of Rs 765 per share.
There will be a special muhurat trading session on both stock exchanges in the evening tomorrow between 1745 hrs and 1845 hrs on account of Diwali.
Overseas, Asian stocks ended lower on increasing possibility of a US Federal Reserve rate hike in December and the latest signal of China's weakening economy. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan fell by 0.18 per cent to 1.44 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei firmed up by 0.15 per cent. Singapore market remained closed.
European markets were lower as key indices in France, Germany and the UK moved down between 0.09 per cent to 0.20 per cent.
Hero MotoCorp 1.49 per cent, Bajaj Auto 1.36 per cent and M&M 1.13 per cent.Among the BSE sectoral indices, oil&gas fell by 3.77 per cent followed by metal 2.78 per cent, healthcare 2.53 per cent, realty 2.42 per cent, IT 1.78 per cent, power 1.77 per cent, teck 1.71 per cent, capital goods 1.29 per cent and FMCG 1.22 per cent, while auto moved up by 0.10 per cent.
The market breadth turned negative as 1,586 stocks ended in red, 1,030 closed in green while 120 ruled steady. The total turnover fell to Rs 2,857.22 crore Rs 2,903.41 crore yesterday.
