Sensex skids on profit booking

The Indian markets ended near the day's low on Monday after starting off a new week on a much more stronger footing. After opening with smart gains, the key stock indices came under pressure and slipped from session highs gradually through the day. FMCG, IT and Telecom stocks were among the major losers today.



"Traders and investors preferred to book profits at higher levels. Trading started off with a bang but ended with a whimper. The NSE Nifty faced stiff resistance as the index failed to sustain above the 6220 levels," says Amar Ambani, Vice President, Research – India Private Clients, IIFL.

The BSE Sensex rose by 31 points to close at 20,475. The index hit an intra-day high of 20,706 and an intra-day low of 20,437.

The Nifty gained 16 points to close at 6,159 after touching a high of 6,222 and a low of 6,144.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Pharma index was the top gainer, gaining by 1.7%, followed by the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.4%) and BSE Bank index (up 0.8%). On the other hand, the BSE FMCG index was down 0.7% and BSE IT index was down 0.4%.

The broader indices ended higher, the BSE Mid-Cap index ended higher by 0.7% and BSE Small-Cap index added 0.3%.

The European indices were trading lower, the DAX in Germany was down 1%, the CAC 40 index in France also was down 1% and FTSE index in UK down 0.4%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were Bhushan Steel, UCO Bank, Vijaya Bank, VIP Industries, Provogue India, Manappuram General Finace, Onmobile Global and Biocon. On the other hand, losers included Pipavav Ship, IGL, SKS Microfinace, BL Kahyap, Godrej Cons and Apollo Tyres.