Sensex Slips 113 Points in Early Trade


Mumbai: The BSE benchmark index, Sensex, declined by over 113 points in early trade as funds and retail investors booked profits after two sessions of gains amid weakness in the rupee, breaching 56 level against dollar. Also, subdued trends on the other Asian bourses also dampened the trading sentiments here. The 30-share index, which had gained over 220 points in the past two sessions, fell by 113.55 points or 0.69 percent, to 16,325.03, with stocks of auto, banking and consumer durable sectors succumbing to profit-booking. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, shed 32.20 points or 0.65 percent, to 4,957.90. Brokers said besides profit-booking by speculators after recent gains, weakness in the rupee, which again breached 56 level against the U.S. dollar also cast its shadow on the trading sentiments, triggering selling. A weakening trend on the other Asian bourses and tomorrow's expiry in the derivatives segment also attributed fall in stock prices, they said. Shares of Tata Motors plunged 8.16 percent to 253.40 despite company's Q4 consolidated net profits soared over two-fold to 6,234 crore. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.50 percent, while Japan's Nikkei Index shed 0.98 percent in the morning trade.
Source: PTI