Oil and gas stocks on Thursday led the decline on the domestic bourses after the government’s decision to defer revision in gas prices by three months and also investors adopted a cautious stance on expiry of monthly derivative contracts.
Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 4-6 percent each contributing the most to the premium indices of both BSE and NSE. The 50-share NSE index Nifty dipped below the crucial 7,500 mark by losing 76.05 points, or 1 per cent, at 7,493.20 after shuttling between 7,570.20 and 7,481.30 intra-day, while the barometer index of the BSE lost 251.07 points or 0.99 percent, off close to 245 points from the day’s high and up about 40 points from the day’s low.
During the day, the BSE Sensex resumed lower at 25,217.69 points and continued to lose momentum to touch an intra-day low of 25,021.23. It settled at 25,062.67, down 251.07 points, or 0.99 per cent. It had lost 55.16 points yesterday.
The index’s drop on Thursday was its steepest since 274.94-point fall on June 18. From the broader markets, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 27.82 points or 0.3 percent to settle at 9,180.84 points, whileon the BSE Small-Cap index was down 31.41 points or 0.31 percent at 9,981.31. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.