Sensex ends down 268.14 pts; Realty plunges

The Sensex ended on a weak note weighed by Bharti Airtel, Grasim and Hindalco. Realty stocks fell the most followed by teck, metal and banking stocks, which also led the fall. It opened with a loss of 72.54 points, at 17,062.01 on Monday on mixed global cues and proceeded to trade lower the entire day. The benchmark index Sensex extended its losses and slipped below the psychological mark of 17,000 on account of aggressive selling pressure seen in frontliners. Finally, it closed sharply lower, after touching a low of 16,835.80 despite opening of European markets in green.

BSE Midcap and Smalcap index dropped 1.69% and 2.12% respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Realty plunged 3.53%, TECk lost 2.67%, Metal lost 2.48%, Bankex declined 2.01% and Auto declined 1.76%, while BSE FMCG gained 1.47%.

European stocks fluctuated between gains and losses as an advance by basic-resource producers offset declines by automakers and household-goods companies. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 rose 3.37 points, or 0.07%, to trade at 4,992.11. French benchmark index CAC 40 rose 8.79 points, or 0.24%, to trade at 3,658.42. Germany`s benchmark index DAX increased 13.11 points or 0.24% at 5,480.85. (4.15 pm)

The Sensex ended the day with a loss of 268.14 points, or 1.56% at 16,866.41 after touching a high of 17,062.01 and a low of 16,835.80. The broad-based NSE Nifty fell 80.20 points, or 1.58% at 5,003.20 after hitting a high of 5,076.05 and a low of 4,991.95.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were ITC (2.58%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (2.29%), Reliance Infrastructure (1.26%), Hindustan Unilever (0.64%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.58%), and Wipro (0.26%).

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel (8.05%), Grasim Industries (7.10%), Hindalco Industries (6.75%), Reliance Communications (5.60%), DLF (3.95%), and Sterlite Industries (India) (3.59%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was extremely negative. Out of the total 2,833 stocks traded at BSE, 779 advanced, 1,991 declined while 63 remained unchanged.

Avinash Gupta, assistant vice president Research Equity, Bonanza Portfolio opining on the market outlook said, ``The market is expected to continue to consolidate further in 4,900 to 5,100 level.``