Sensex sheds 132 points as IT stocks plunge

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets shed 132 points or 0.64 percent Thursday as technology stocks plunged.

Selling pressure was seen in IT, capital goods, auto and technology, media and entertainment (TECK) sectors, while good buying was observed in oil and gas, consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks. 

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,579.56 points, closed at 20,415.51 points, down 132.11 points or 0.64 percent from its previous day's close at 20,547.62  points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,629.80 points and a low of 20,375.42 points intra-day.

The S&P BSE oil and gas index gained 116 points, consumer durables index increased 99.04 points and FMCG index moved up by 80.06 points.

However, IT index plunged by 314.99 points, capital goods index dropped by 192.52 points, auto index slipped by 143.56 points; and TECK index went down by 128.03 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 43.20 points or 0.71 percent down at 6,045.85 points.

The major Sensex gainers were Bharti Airtel, up 2.85 percent at Rs.348.70; ONGC, up 2.24 percent at Rs.280.85; Bajaj Auto, up 1.92 percent at Rs.2164.90; and ITC, up 1.63 percent at Rs.345.35.

The major Sensex losers were Tata Consultancy Services, down 4.98 percent at Rs.2,107.70; Tata Motors, down 4.03 percent at Rs.373.40; Larsen & Toubro, down 3.73 percent at Rs.837.25; and Wipro, down 3 percent at Rs.495.10.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.83 percent up; while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 0.57 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index went down by 0.21 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.13 percent down, Germany's DAX Index was down by 0.49 percent and the French CAC 40 Index went down by 0.36 percent.