By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities fell 57 points Wednesday on negative global cues and disappointing results of telecom giant Bharti Aritel.
The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed 56.77 points or 0.27 percent down at 20,875.71 points in a lacklustre session.
The index opened marginally down at 20,917.54 points and touched a high of 20,970.91 points and a low of 20,849.92 points in the intra-day trade.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed 0.41 percent or 25.85 points down at 6,275.70 points.
However, the broader markets indices closed mixed. The BSE midcap index ended 0.29 percent higher at 8,730.30 points, and the BSE smallcap index closed 0.86 percent higher at 11,243.99 points, while the BSE FMCG index fell nearly one percent and the BSE Bankex slipped 0.76 percent.
Bharti Airtel fell 1.77 percent to Rs.328.15 after it reported 27 percent decline in its second quarter profit.
Share price of the State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, fell sharply for the second straight day. The scrip closed 1.78 percent down at Rs.3,213.50 after losing 4.4 percent Tuesday.
Cipla, 1.96 percent down at Rs.342.95; BHEL, 1.74 percent down at Rs.2,483.05; and Hindalco Inds, 1.60 percent down at Rs.228, were other major losers of the day.
Tata Motors surged 2.49 percent to Rs.1,302.15 a day after the company reported better than expected Rs.2,223 crore profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2010-11 as against just Rs.22 crore profit in the corresponding quarter of last year.
Other major gainers at the Sensex were Mahindra and Mahindra, up 3.05 percent at Rs.805; Infosys, up 1.01 percent at Rs.3,082.90; Wipro, up 0.80 percent at Rs.435.65 and ONGC, up 0.71 percent at Rs.1,346.80.
Most global markets closed in the red. Chinese Shanghai Composite index fell 0.63 percent to 3,115.36 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.85 percent to 24,500 points. However, the Japanese Nikkei climbed 1.40 percent to 9,830.52 points.
European markets were also in the red. The FTSE 100 was trading 0.34 percent down at 5,855 points, the German DAX was 0.30 percent down at 6,767 and the French CAC 40 was trading 0.58 percent down at 3,923 points.