Sensex down 42 pts to over 1-week low ahead of RBI policy meet

The BSE benchmark Sensex today slid for the fourth straight day and fell 42 points on profit-taking in FMCG, metal and auto stocks, logging its first weekly loss in four.

Investors appeared cautious ahead of RBI monetary policy review and monthly expiry of equity derivative contracts next week, amid weak trend in global markets.

After losing 169 points in the previous three sessions, the Sensex eased further by 41.91 points, or 0.20 per cent to over one-week low of 20,683.52. It shuttled between 20,782.16 and 20,622.55 intra-day.

Even though the 30-share bluechip index briefly climbed to three-year high by surpassing a crucial 21,000 level yesterday, it closed 199.37 points down this week -- the first loss in four weeks. Last week, it had gained 354.30 points.

On similar lines, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty edged down by 19.45 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 6,144.90. It had touched a high of 6,174.75 intra-day.

Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, ended at 12,309.62, down 21.7 points or 0.18 per cent.

Brokers said higher inflation data dimmed any chance of a cut in interest rate and the street was expecting a 0.25 per cent hike in repo rate.

In the Sensex pack, 21 stocks declind led by Hindalco, Tata Steel, M&M, HUL, GAIL, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Tata Power, Jindal Steel and Cipla.

Bucking the general weak trend, IT, Teck and consumer durable stocks were higher on buying, traders said.

While IT stocks gained on expectations the recovery in global economy would boost revenues, the consumer durables sector firmed on rising demand during the festive season.

The BSE Realty sector index suffered the most by losing 2.27 per cent, followed by Capital Goods (1.61 per cent), Metal (1.22 per cent) and Auto (1.19 per cent).

Globally, major Asian markets ended down. European indices were also trending down in early trade.

In the domestic market, 21 Sensex shares declined, while ICICI Bank was unchanged. The lender's standalone net profit in the July-September quarter rose 20 per cent to Rs 2,352 crore.

The major losers were Hindalco (-4.71 pc), Tata Steel (-3.09 pc), Mahindra & Mahindra (-2.48 pc), Hindustan Unilever (-2.33 pc) and GAIL India (-2.23 pc).
The gainers included TCS (2.92 pc), Wipro (2.07 pc), Sesa Sterlite (1.84 pc) and NTPC (1.36 pc).

Among the sectoral indices, S&P BSE Realty dropped 2.27 pc, followed by Capital Goods 1.61 pc, Metal 1.22 pc, Auto 1.19 pc and FMCG 0.93 pc. The S&P BSE IT index rose 1.54 pc and S&P BSE Teck added 0.98 pc.

The market breadth continued to show a negative trend after 1,420 shares ended with losses, 1,022 finished with gains and 160 ruled steady.

Total turnover at the BSE fell to Rs 1,744.49 crore from Rs 2,073.26 crore yesterday. Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 991.83 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.