Mumbai, Jan 22 (Inditop.com) A benchmark index for Indian equities Friday ended below the 17,000-point mark, 191 points lower than its previous close, giving up gains on the back of better-than-expected results from heavyweight Reliance Industries.
The losses were also due to heavy selling by foreign institutional investors, who sold $123.9 million, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,978.36 points, closed at 16,859.68 points, down 191.46 points or 1.12 percent from its previous close at 17,051.14 points.
It had slipped over 440 points about an hour after the opening bell, but recovered to touch an intra-day high of 17,000.33 points around noon before slipping again.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5,036 points against the previous close at 5,094.15 points, a loss of 1.14 percent.
Broader markets were also hit by selling pressure, with the BSE midcap index ending 1.09 percent down and the BSE small cap index 1.14 percent lower.
The market breadth was negative, with 842 stocks advancing, compared to 2,043 on the decline and 52 remaining unchanged.
Among the major gainers were BHEL, up 3.26 percent at Rs.2,372.20; ITC, up 2.13 percent at Rs.249.35; Hero Honda, up 1.11 percent at Rs.1,665; and Hindustan Unilever, up 0.39 percent at Rs.257.80.
Top losers included Tata Steel, down 3.67 percent at Rs.624.50; L&T, down 3.41 percent at Rs.1,472.35; DLF, down 2.83 percent at Rs.353.80; and Sun Pharma, down 2.69 percent at Rs.1,426.30.
Most other Asian markets were also affected by a selling spree, with the benchmark Japanese index Nikkei ending 2.56 percent lower at 10,590.55 points, and the Korean Kospi closing 2.19 percent down at 1,684.35.
The Chinese Shanghai composite index too was in the red, at 3,144.5 points, 0.96 percent down, while the Hang Seng of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ended 0.65 percent lower at 20,726.18 points.
European markets were in the red for the third consecutive day.
During closing bell here, FTSE 100, the benchmark index of the London Stock Exchange, was ruling 0.43 percent lower at 5,311.97 points, while the French index, CAC 40, was down 0.54 percent at 3,841.26 points.
The German DAX was ruling 0.6 percent lower at 5,712.66 points.
