Sensex ends lower; TCS plunges over 4%

The Sensex ended on a bearish note led by banking, IT and oil & gas stocks, while auto stocks edged higher.

The 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened with a loss of 1.53 points, at 8,942.01 on Tuesday and continued to trade in a lacklustre manner as the day progressed. It touched the mark of 9,000 in the noon trades,touching a high of 9,024.12. Sustained selling seen in select frontliners dragged the Sensex below 9,000 level to finally close on a negative note.

BSE Midcap index declined 0.16%, while Smallcap index rose 0.39%.

On global front, Asian stocks gained, as Australia said it may lower interest rates and Standard Chartered reported a strong start to 2009. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei advanced 244.98 points, or 3.18%, to end at 7,949.13 and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index fell 98.62 points, or 0.76%, to close at 12,878.09 and Singapore`s Straits Times dropped 27.61 points, or 1.74%, to close at 1,558.71.

European stocks declined, as rising credit-card defaults at American Express overshadowed Standard Chartered`s report of a strong start to 2009.UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 14.74 points, or 0.38%, to trade at 3,849.25.French benchmark index CAC 40 fell 11.96 points, or 0.43%, to trade at 2,779.70 and Germany`s benchmark index DAX dropped 7.11 points, or 0.18%, to trade at 4,037.43. (4.08 p.m., IST).

The Sensex ended the day with a loss of 79.72 points, or 0.89% at 8,863.82 after touching a high of 9,024.12 and a low of 8,801.79. The broad-based NSE Nifty fell 19.80 points, or 0.71% at 2,757.45 after hitting a high of 2,805.60 and a low of 2,738.70.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Tata Motors (3.40%), Hindalco Industries (2.34%), ITC (1.64%), Maruti Suzuki India (1.55%), NTPC (1.40%), and Mahindra & Mahindra (0.91%).

On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services (4.31%), State Bank Of India(3.87%), Jaiprakash Associates (3.75%), HDFC Bank (2.27%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (2.03%), and Reliance Industries (1.98%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth is positive. Out of the total 2,574 stocks traded at BSE, 1,330 advanced, 1,137 declined while 107 remained unchanged.