Sensex down 202 points; IT stocks down

Mumbai, Jan 17 :

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Friday slumped 202 points or 0.95 percent, as information technology (IT) and bank stocks dipped.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 21,236.65 points, closed at 21,063.62 points, down 201.56 points or 0.95 percent from its previous day’s close at 21,265.18 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 21,270.11 points and a low of 21,015.61 intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade 57.25 points or 0.91 percent down at 6,261.65 points.

In Friday’s trade, the S&P BSE IT index was down 246.11 points followed by bank index which lost 199.44 points and technology, entertainment and media (TECk) index was 198.83 points down.

However, the S&P oil and gas index was up 21.87 points, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) gained 4.26 points and automobile index was up by 4.19 points.

The major gainers were: Bajaj Auto, up 1.37 percent at Rs.1.934; BHEL, up 1.30 percent at Rs.171.30; Cipla, up 1.27 percent at Rs.417.90; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.27 percent at Rs.559; and Mahindra and Mahindra, up 0.62 percent at Rs.898.10.

The main losers were: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 5.77 percent at Rs.2,215.65; Wipro, down 3.15 percent at Rs.552.45; HDFC, down 2.58 percent at Rs.838; ICICI Bank, down 2.44 percent at Rs.1,035; and Axis Bank, down 2.05 percent at Rs.1,152.80.

Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.39 percent down, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.37 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was marginally higher by 0.02 percent.

In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.09 percent up. However, Germany’s DAX Index was lower by 0.09 percent and the French CAC 40 Index edged up by 0.07 percent.

(IANS)