Mumbai:
A sharp decline was recorded in the Indian stock market on Thursday. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share sensitive index Sensex closed at 59,984.70, down 1,158.63 points. This is the biggest fall in the Sensex in more than the last 6 months. On the other hand, the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed at 17,857.25 points, down 353.70 points on Thursday.
Analysts said options contracts weighed on investor sentiment. The Sensex fell up to 1,366 points and the Nifty 50 index fell below its crucial psychological level of 17,800 to 411 points.
ITC was the biggest loser among the Sensex stocks, falling over 5 per cent. Besides, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank were the major losers. On the other hand, gainers include IndusInd Bank, L&T, UltraTech Cement and Asian Paints.
Vinod Modi, Head of Strategy, Reliance Securities, said, “There was heavy selling in the domestic stock market with sharp fall in major financial and IT companies in volatile trade. This fall has cost investors Rs 4.5 lakh crore.
He said that there was a sharp fall in all the major segment wise indices. Nifty PSU Bank (public sector bank) fell over 4 per cent. On the last day of settlement of positions in the futures and options segment, the market came down mainly due to selling in financial stocks amid a weak global trend. Recently, the market was strengthened due to the rise in financial stocks.
In other Asian markets, China’s Shanghai Composite Index, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei declined. The major stock markets of Europe also saw a decline in afternoon trading. Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international oil standard, slipped 1.11 percent to $ 82.94 a barrel. (from input language…)