By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets closed in the red Wednesday as investors sought to book profits pushing a key index down 178 points from its previous close.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 12,100.69 points, lost 178.33 points or 1.47 percent from its previous close to end trade at 11,952.75 points.
Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 1.01 percent to close at 3,625.05 points.
The broader market indices also closed lower, with the BSE midcap index moving down 1.16 percent and the BSE smallcap index shedding 0.23 percent.
The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 12,131.08 points on opening and a low of 11,899.41 points in the afternoon.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the indices for realty, metal and banking stocks lost the most.
Among top gainers were NTPC, up 1.91 percent at Rs.194.50; Hindalco, up 1.53 percent at Rs.63.10; Tata Power, up 1.24 percent at Rs.912.65; and Reliance Infra, up 1.07 percent at Rs.801.45.
Losers included Jaiprakash Associates, down 6.41 percent at Rs.137.90; HDFC, down 5.94 percent at Rs.1,784.55; DLF, down 5.51 percent at Rs.245.95; and Tata Steel, down 5.42 percent at Rs.270.65.
Market breadth was negative, with 1,195 scrips advancing, 1,320 stocks declining and 98 remaining unchanged.
Companies that were most traded in rupee terms included Reliance Infra, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries.
In Asian markets, the Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, ended trade 404.49 points or 2.46 percent higher at 16,834.57 points.
European markets were trading marginally higher with the FTSE in Britain ruling 10.64 points up at 4,347.58 points and its French peer CAC 40 trading 23.31 points higher at 3,248.31 points.
Data with the market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), showed that foreign funds were net buyers Monday lapping up scrips worth $140 million.