By IANS
Mumbai : Indian shares ended weak Thursday after losing early gains with a key index slipping 0.6 percent fuelled by the political uncertainty over the India-US civil nuclear deal and profit-taking on heavyweight stocks.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which had surged to an intra-day high of 14,554 points, also took a beating as rumours through an SMS message said the central government would fall in 45 minutes.
The key index finally settled with a loss of 84.68 points, or 0.6 percent, at 14,163.98 points, with 15 of its components trading in the negative turf.
Similarly, the broader National Stock Exchange (NSE) index, Nifty, too, shed 0.9 percent, down 38.20 points, to close at 4,114.95 points.
“Even though it was impossible to say whether it was the mystery SMS that led to the fall, the timing was surely suspect,” said an equities analyst with a leading brokerage house here.
Leading the pack of Sensex losers was drug major Cipla, down 4.41 percent at Rs.167.80, followed by Oil and Natural Gas Corp, down 3.07 percent at Rs.783.95, and State Bank of India, down 2.94 percent at Rs.1,415.05.
Ranbaxy Laboratories and India’s most valuable company Reliance Industries were also among the losers.
But Associated Cements bucked the trend and led the gainers, up 2.02 percent at Rs.972.40, followed by rival Ambuja Cements, up 1.72 percent at Rs.132.75, and hospitality and tobacco major ITC, up 1.45 percent at Rs.160.70.
Top carmaker Maruti Udyog, fourth largest software exporter Satyam Computer, its larger rival Infosys Technologies, fast moving consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever, textile major Grasim, drug maker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and multi-utility vehicle producer Tata Motors were the other major index gainers.