Mumbai, July 10 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Wednesday slipped 0.75 percent or 145 points in cautious trade ahead of the earnings season next week.
Selling pressure was seen in auto, oil and gas, capital goods and bank stocks, while some positive movement was observed in consumer durables and IT scrips.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,482.66 points, closed at 19,294.12 points, down 145.36 points or 0.75 percent from the previous day’s close at 19,439.48 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 19,505.93 points and a low of 19,237.91 points intra-day.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended 0.72 percent or 42.30 points down at 5,816.70 points.
The S&P BSE consumer durables index surged 122.25 points and IT index inched up by 41.48 points, while auto index dipped 159.76 points, oil and gas index slipped 158.96 points, capital goods index dropped 91.05 points and bankex went down by 81.19 points.
The major Sensex gainers were: Wipro, up 1.33 percent at Rs.365.00; Tata Power, up 0.88 percent at Rs.86.30; Jindal Steel, up 0.74 percent at Rs.218.70; and Tata Consultancy Services, up 0.60 percent at Rs.1,513.40.
The major losers were: Mahindra & Mahindra, down 2.63 percent at Rs.911.90; Hindalco Industries, down 2.58 percent at Rs.98.15; Bajaj Auto, down 2.13 percent at Rs.1,854.60; Tata Steel, down 1.97 percent at Rs.256.25; Reliance Industries Limited, down 1.95 percent at Rs.856.35 and; ONGC, down 1.79 percent at Rs.296.65.
Among the Asian markets, Nikkei slipped by 0.39 percent; KOSPI went down by 0.34 percent, while Hang Seng was up by 1.07 percent and Shanghai Composite Index moved up by 2.17 percent.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.55 percent down; Germany’s DAX Index was down by 0.47 percent and French CAC 40 Index was down by 0.56 percent.
