By IANS,
Mumbai : A key Indian equities index fell sharply towards the closing bell Thursday to end flat as heavy selling in blue chip IT and telecom scrips dragged down the benchmark index from its intra-day high.
The 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, which opened at 16,908.02 points, shut shop at 16,843.54 points, up 36.88 points or 0.22 percent from Wednesday’s closing figure of 16,806.66 points.
The index had gained 191 points during the day.
The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too ended around its last close at 5,002.25 points, up 0.33 percent.
Broader market indices, however, managed to gain, with the BSE midcap index moving up 0.79 percent and the BSE smallcap index closing 0.22 percent up.
Realty, FMCG and Auto stocks were in favour among buyers.
The market breadth was negative with 1,246 stocks advancing, 1,512 declining and 110 remaining unchanged.
Among the gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors, up 5.53 percent at Rs.587.40; Reliance Infra, up 4.89 percent at Rs.1,331.15; Tata Steel, up 3.56 percent at Rs.535.10; and Jaiprakash Associates, up 3.2 percent at Rs.243.60.
Among the losers were Bharti Airtel, down 6.61 percent at Rs.334.65; Reliance Communications, down 6.01 percent at Rs.246.30; Sun Pharma, down 3.42 percent at Rs.1,364; and TCS, down 3.36 percent at Rs.573.05.
Other Asian markets were in the green.
The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 32.87 points or 0.34 percent higher at 9,832.47 points.
The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, was ruling 251.31 points or 1.18 percent higher at 21,492.9 points.
The Kospi, benchmark index of the Korean Stock Exchange, was higher as well at 1,615.46 points, up 17.46 points or 1.09 percent.
European markets were ruling firm.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index was ruling 0.59 percent higher at 5,139.13 points, while its French peer, the CAC 40, was up 1.2 percent at 3,801.4 points.
Germany’s DAX was ruling at 5,706.78 points, up 1.17 percent.