Sensex falls 371 pts on profit booking, weak global mkts

The BSE Sensex snapped 6-session winning streak today and fell on profit booking to below the 17k mark at 16,863.30, down 371 points, amid weak equity markets globally.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share index had rallied nearly 12 per cent this month till January 27, adding Rs 7 lakh crore to investor wealth. Last week alone, it gained nearly 3 per cent, prompting investors to sell and book profits, analysts said.

All the 13 sectoral indices closed in the red, down up to 5.55 per cent with capital goods, power, realty, metals, banking and refinery stocks facing strong selling. Overall, 25 of the 30 Sensex scrips closed with losses.

Power equipment maker BHEL lost 10.41 per cent on weak results announced last week.
Other heavyweights such as ICICI Bank, L&T, RIL, Bharti Airtel, M&M, SBI, HDFC and Infosys closed in the red.

"As expected indices witnessed profit booking at higher levels amid weak global cues. Global developments as well as domestic cues relating to Q3 FY'12 results outcome will continue to influence the market trend," said Shanu Goel, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

Sensex opened the day lower and fell further on weak Asian cues to close the day at 16,863.30 -- down 370.68 points or 2.15 per cent. In the last six sessions of gain, it had spurted 782.54 points or 4.76 per cent.

The 50-issue NSE index Nifty fell 117.40 points or 2.26 per cent at 5,087.30.

Globally, all the major Asian markets ended in the red, and European stocks were trading weak in the afternoon.

Except Taiwan, most of the major Asian markets fell by up to 1.66 per cent. Similarly, equities in France, Germany and the UK were trading weak by up to 1.19 per cent in the afternoon.

FIIs, meanwhile, have remained net buyers of Indian stocks during the month and had pumped in Rs 1,240.16 crore on January 27 as per provisional data. They have infused over Rs 9,073.10 crore in this year till January 25 as per Sebi data.

Some of the major Sensex losers were Sterlite (5.99 pc), L&T (5.37 pc), Hindalco (4.81 pc), M&M (4.71 pc), Bharti Airtel (4.54 pc), ICICI Bank (4.07 pc), Tata Steel (3.55 pc), DLF (3.07 pc), RIL (2.71 pc), SBI (2.54 pc), Tata Motors (2.42 pc), HUL (1.99 pc), Wipro (1.96 pc), Tata Power (1.62 pc), HDFC (1.50 pc), Coal India (1.41 pc), GAIL India (1.18 pc), Maruti Suzuki (1.16 pc), NTPC (1.01 pc), Infosys (0.54 pc) and ITC (0.54 pc).

Among the sectoral indices, BSE-Capital Goods plunged 5.55 pc, Power - 3.54 pc, Realty - 3.10 pc, Metal - 2.85 pc, Bankex - 2.78 pc, Consumer Durables - 2.55 pc, Oil & Gas - 2.18 pc.

The market breadth at the BSE turned negative with 1,820 stocks losing ground against, 997 made gains. The total turnover dropped to Rs 2,475.02 crore from Rs 2,756.86 crore last Friday.