Sensex down 24 pts; value-buying in banks, realty caps losses

Falling for the third straight day, the benchmark BSE Sensex today settled marginally lower by 24 points as auto and metal stocks tanked on RBI's cautious stance on economic recovery, while value-buying in blue-chips restricts losses to some extent.

"In the absence of any supportive cues, benchmarks slipped lower in the later half but buying in selective index majors around the day's low, completely trimmed the intraday losses," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution of Religare Securities.

Of 30 Sensex shares, 19 ended lower, while 11 others, led by RIL, Wipro, HDFC and HDFC Bank ended higher to cap index's losses.

The BSE barometer opened higher at 26,940.64 and touched a high of 26,948.84 on buying in badly beaten down blue-chip stocks of the past two sessions, but on profit-booking it surrendered most of early gains to touch a low of 26,551.97.

A round of late buying in select blue-chip stocks, however, helped Sensex to recover to close at 26,813.42 points, down by 23.78 points or 0.09 per cent over its.
The gauge has now lost 1,035.57 points in three sessions.

The NSE Nifty after slipping below the 8,100-mark to touch the day's low of 8,056.75, staged a strong comeback to wipe off most losses on value-buying towards the fag-end and settled the day 4.45 points or 0.05 per cent down at 8,130.65.

The rupee breached the crucial 64-mark to touch a 20-month low of 64.25 against the dollar (intra-day).

"Indian markets shut the day on a flat note after recent carnage in the last few trading sessions. Investors continue to stay sidelines with keeping an eye on Greece debt repayment outcome scheduled tomorrow,"    said Gaurav Jain, Director of Hem Securities.

Elsewhere in Asia, barring Hang Seng most equities ended higher with indices like China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea up by 0.07 to 0.76 per cent. While European markets tumbled in early trade following a spike in bond yields as well as renewed concerns over a potential Greek default.