Mumbai, July 13 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets fell for the third straight day Friday and closed over 18 points down, shedding early gains. Consumer durable, realty and metal stocks were among the under-performers.
The Sensex was trading 110 point up in the early trade.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 17,269.20 points, closed at 17,213.70 points down 0.11 percent or 18.85 points from its previous day close at 17,232.55 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 17,342.88 points and low of 17,182.29 points in the intra-day trade.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also closed 0.15 percent down at 5,227.25 points. The Nifty had plunged 1.34 percent or 71.05 points Thursday.
The major Sensex losers were: Jindal Steel, down 3.24 percent at Rs.430.45; Hindalco Inds, down 2.11 percent at Rs.120.45; Tata Power, down 2.08 percent at Rs.98.70; SBI, down 1.69 percent at Rs.2,179.30; and Infosys, down 1.65 percent at Rs.2,227.80.
The main gainers were: Hero MotoCorp, up 1.38 percent at Rs.2,086.90; HDFC Bank, up 1.21 percent at Rs.586.85; TCS, up 1.10 percent at Rs.1,249.65; and ONGC, up 0.92 percent at Rs.284.75.
The Sensex had slumped 1.47 percent or 256.59 points Thursday due to a disappointing earnings forecast announced by Infosys.
In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.05 percent up and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.35 percent higher. China's Composite index was 0.02 percent up.
At closing bell here, European markets were trading positive. France's CAC was up 0.73 percent while Germany's DAX was up 1.21 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.79 percent.
