By IANS,
Mumbai : Heavy profit booking in the last hour of trading in the Indian equities markets Wednesday pulled down a key index by 435 points at closing bell. Realty and metal stocks saw bulk of the selling.
The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Sensex, which opened at 14,978.5 points, fell 435.07 points or 2.91 percent to end trade at 14,522.84 points.
The Sensex hit an intra-day high of 14,996.39 points and a low of 14,447.02 points.
Like the Sensex, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed in the red, ending 3.58 percent lower at 4,356.15 points.
Broader market indices also closed in the negative terrain after having traded in the green for most of the day. The BSE midcap index ended 3.92 percent lower, while the BSE smallcap index was down 3.74 percent.
All the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE ended in the red with realty, metal and PSU stocks coming under maximum selling pressure.
The market breadth was negative, with only 686 stocks advancing compared to 1,990 declining, while 73 scrips remained unchanged.
There was only one gainer on the 30-composite Sensex: Tata Power, up 0.03 percent at Rs.1,181.25.
Of the other losers on the Sensex were Tata Steel, down 7.52 percent at Rs.417; Tata Motors, down 7.36 percent at Rs.324.25; Jaiprakash Associates, down 6.28 percent at Rs.205.10; and Reliance Communications, down 5.92 percent at Rs.309.
Trading volume crossed the Rs.1 lakh crore mark to stand at Rs.107,365.32 crore. This included Rs.20,953.96 crore from the NSE cash segment and Rs.79,470.14 crore from the NSE futures and options. The balance Rs.6,941.22 crore came from the BSE cash segment.
Data with the market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed that foreign funds sold shares worth $149.1 million Wednesday.
Other Asian markets ended mixed, with a key index of the Tokyo stock exchange, Nikkei 225 Stock Average, ending trade at 9,840.85 points, 87.97 points higher than its previous close.
On the other hand, the Hang Seng, a primary index of the Hong Kong stock exchange, pulled its shutters in the red, dipping 80.9 points to 18,084.6 points.
European markets began trade on a negative note and were still trading in the red.
The FTSE, a key British index, fell 48.36 points to 4,280.21 while its French peer, CAC 40, was ruling 35.31 points down at 3,178.64 points.
US markets were expected to open on a flat note with key index futures down marginally.