Home Economy Sensex ends 191 points lower

Sensex ends 191 points lower

By IANS,

Mumbai: A key index for Indian equities Thursday closed 191 points lower, tracking bourses across the world, as weak industrial data from China sparked off concern about the global economic recovery.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,679.34 points, closed at 17,509.33 points, 191.57 points or 1.08 percent lower from its previous close at 17,700.9 points.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,251.4 points, down 1.15 percent from its previous close at 5,312.5 points.

Broader markets indices were mixed with the BSE midcap index ending 0.39 percent lower and the BSE smallcap index 0.11 percent up.

Metals, realty, auto, and IT scrips came under selling pressure, while consumer durables gained 0.26 percent.

The market breadth was negative, with 1,399 scrips on the advance, compared to 1,450 stocks declining, and 130 remaining unchanged.

Among the gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever, up 2.02 percent at Rs.272.30, Reliance Infra, up 0.81 percent at Rs.1,210.80, Bharti Airtel, up 0.51 percent at Rs.264.60, and NTPC, up 0.4 percent at Rs.199.95.

Prominent losers included Sterlite, down 3.18 percent at Rs.164.45; Reliance Communications, down 3.03 percent at Rs.192.30; TCS, down 2.64 percent at Rs.731.35; and Wipro, down 2.51 percent at Rs.375.10.

Other Asian markets closed lower too, fllowing the sell-off in the US market and fall of industrial production in China.

The Japanese Nikkei ended at a seven-month low, at 9,191.6 points, 2.04 percent lower than its previous close.

The Chinese Shanghai composite index closed in the negative at 2,373.79 points, 1.02 percent lower, while the South Korean Kospi closed lower at 1,686.24 points, 0.71 percent down.

Hong Kong markets were closed Thursday.

European markets were in the red.

In Britain, the benchmark index FTSE 100 was ruling 0.84 percent down at 4,875.39 points, while the French CAC 40 was trading 1.39 percent lower at 3,394.97 points.

The German DAX was down 0.58 percent at 5,930.81 points.