By IANS,
Mumbai : A late sell off pulled a benchmark index of Indian equities down 227 points Thursday. The big profit booking hit broader markets as well.
Foreign funds, however, bought into Indian equities. Data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) showed influx of $515.89 million from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,544.3 points, closed at 20,315.32 points, down 227.76 points or 1.11 percent from its previous close at 20,543.08 points.
It had slipped more than 270 points minutes before closing bell to an intra-day low 20,272.77 points.
Realty, metals, IT and capital goods stocks saw bulk of the selling. All but one of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE were in the red. Healthcare scrips saw some buying.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 6,120.3 points, down 1.07 percent.
Broader markets too gave up their intra-day gains. The BSE midcap ended 0.68 percent down and the BSE smallcap index 0.89 percent lower.
Top Sensex gainers were Tata Power, up 2.48 percent at Rs.1,433.40; Hero Honda, up 1.18 percent at Rs.1,841.45; Cipla, up 1.16 percent at Rs.331.25 and Reliance Comm, up 0.68 percent at Rs.178.15.
Among the losers were Tata Steel, down 4.2 percent at Rs.649.55; DLF, down 3 percent at Rs.380.95; Reliance Infra, down 2.95 percent at Rs.1,087.30, and HDFC, down 2.5 percent at Rs.726.70.
Other Asian markets too closed on a sombre note as traders chose to book profits. The mood was cautious, ahead of the release of US non-farm payroll data.
The Japan’s Nikkei closed flat at 9,684.81 points, down 0.07 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also ended trade almost unchanged at 22,884.32 points. The Chinese markets were closed Thursday.
European market indices moved up after a weak start, ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank to decide on key interest rates.
Around mid-day, Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading at 5,695.41 points, up 0.25 percent.
The German DAX was ruling 0.46 percent higher at 6,299.61 points and the French CAC 40 was trading at 3,788.6 points, up 0.63 percent from its previous close.