By IANS,
Mumbai : After two days of impressive gains, Indian equities dipped in the early hours of trading Wednesday on cues from other bourses, as investors also found that there were few takers for the central bank’s proposal to help mutual funds.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened weak at 11,245.27 points, against the previous close at 11,483.40 points. An hour into trading, it dipped to 11,086.69 points, with a loss of 396.71 points of 3.45 percent.
Ranbaxy Laboratories and Grasim were the sole gainers among the 30 shares that make up the Sensex, up 0.75 percent and 0.66 percent, respectively. Sterlite, on the other hand, led the losers, down 8.46 percent.
The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also down 2.79 percent, with analysts attributing the fall to the mood across the globe and limited impact of central bank’s latest move to infuse liquidity.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said Tuesday it will conduct a special 14-day repo (repurchase of securities) auction at nine percent for Rs.200 billion ($4.18 billion) to enable banks meet the liquidity requirements of mutual funds.
But with only four bids coming by for Rs.35 billion each, there was little room for cheer, analysts said. They also attributed the losses to profit taking by anxious investors who have seen the markets crash over 15 percent last week.