Sensex closes 147 points down over political uncertainties

IANS – Thu 20 Sep, 2012 6:57 PM IST

Mumbai, Sep 20 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday closed 147 points lower amid political uncertainties arising out of the government's decision to hike diesel prices and allow overseas investments in multi-brand retail and on weak global cues.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened sharply lower at 18,292.22 points, closed at 18,349.25 points, down 0.79 percent or 146.76 points from its previous close at 18,496.01 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also fell 0.82 percent to 5,554.25 points.

Weak global cues and political uncertainties that arose after the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress decided to pull out of the government have dampened sentiments at the Indian markets.

There was heavy selling pressure in metal, capital goods and power stocks.

The BSE metal index was down 239.16 points, capital goods index fell 203.54 points, power index was down 31.57 points.

The major Sensex losers were BHEL, down 3.62 percent at Rs.216.85; Gail India, down 3.58 percent at Rs.374; Coal India, down 2.99 percent at Rs.364.95; Sterlite Inds, down 2.80 percent at Rs.99.05; and Tata Steel, down 2.73 percent at Rs.393.85.

The major Sensex gainers were Bajaj Auto, up 2.31 percent at Rs.1,788.55; TCS, up 1.62 percent at Rs.1,321.50; ONGC, up 1.21 percent at Rs.284.70; Wipro, up 0.93 percent at Rs.373.05; and ITC, up 0.92 percent at Rs.256.45.

Asian markets closed in red. Japan's Nikkei closed 1.57 percent down, while Shanghai's composite index closed 2.08 percent lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 1.20 percent down.

At closing bell here, European markets were trading lower. France's CAC was down 0.89 percent and so was Germany's DAX, down 0.58 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was trading 0.81 percent lower.

-- Indo-Asian News Service

pri/srj/vt

MARKET MOVERS

    Latest News

    • Tata's Mistry man: tightening belts as more frugal era begins
      Tata's Mistry man: tightening belts as more frugal era begins

      As Ratan Tata strode the halls of the Geneva Motor Show in March, joking with journalists and chatting with auto industry leaders, his successor at the helm of India's biggest business group stood silently ...

    • Nikkei slides as exporters hit, investors on edge after last week's turbulence

      Japan's Nikkei share average slumped 3.8 percent on Monday morning, as a rebound in the yen hammered exporters in a market still on edge after last week's turbulent trade sent the benchmark reeling to ...

    • Europe investigates Apple's iPhone tactics - FT

      REUTERS - The European Commission is investigating whether Apple Inc is using anti-competitive iPhone sales tactics and technical restrictions to squeeze out rival smartphone makers from the European market, ...

    • Asian stocks still shaky as Nikkei slides 3 percent

      Japan's Nikkei index slid 3.0 percent in early trade on Monday, following on from a 3.5 percent slide last week in breath-taking volatility that no doubt left many investors shaken. "Last week's shock ...

    • GDP to grow by around 6% plus: FM

      Mumbai, May 27 -- With India's GDP estimated to have grown about 5% last year, the lowest since 2003-04, finance minister P Chidambaram said the economy this year would grow faster.The final GDP numbers for the year 2012-13 will be announced this week. Current full year estimate for 2012-13 is at 5%. For the first three quarters, it grew 5.1%. From 9.3% in 2010-11, the economic growth decelerated to 6.2% in 2011-12."The economy has slowed down, business has slowed down. ...

    • Fathering a novel

      India, May 27 -- If one can father a novel, I claim to have fathered Bhaichand Patel's first novel Mothers Lovers & Other Strangers (Pan books). It happened a few years ago that Bhaichand moved into a ground floor flat two blocks away from mine. I asked him what he was up to."Trying to write a novel but I am stuck," he replied. I asked him to tell me what it was about. He told me it was largely based on his own life. "But I am stuck," he repeated. Every day he dropped in, I asked him the same

    • Wave Cinemas plans to add 200 screens by 2015

      New Delhi, May 27 -- Multiplex chain Wave Cinemas, part of the Delhi-based Chadha Group, plans to scale up its business into untapped territories of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu, Rudrapur and Haridwar by adding 200 screens by the end of 2015."In next two years, we plan to add 200 screens. At present, we are establishing 15 screens every 3-6 months," said Yogesh Raizada, corporate head, Wave Cinemas.The cinema chain known for introducing the multiplex concept, began its commercial operations a

    • Coming clean about dirty medicine

      India, May 27 -- If Malvider Singh wants to refute what the world has concluded about how Ranbaxy was run, he'll have to offer a far more vigorous defence. As investors, and indeed as consumers, we rely on being able to somehow figuring out the quality of the information being given to us. When we have conflicting information, we need to have some basis for deciding who's wrong and who's right. That's proving difficult in the case of Ranbaxy and its former promoters, led by Malvinder Singh. ...

    MAJOR STOCKS (A-G)

    MAJOR STOCKS (H-N)

    MAJOR STOCKS (O-Z)

    MARKET COMMENTARY

    •  
      Symbol Price Change % ChgChart 
      Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the "Enter symbol/company" at the bottom of this module.
      You need to enable your browser cookies to view your most recent quotes.
      Save List to Portfolio »

    • Recent Quotes News

      •  
        Sign-in to view quotes in your portfolios.

      Yahoo! Cricket