Sensex slips below 20K in afternoon trade

Mumbai, Dec 14: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)'s Sensex slid into the red below the 20K level in afternoon trade after posting decent gains in the mid-afternoon session owing to volatility on the bourses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down by 112.91 points at 19,991.48 after hitting a high of 20171.57 during the day trade. The market had opened on a positive note in the morning on fresh inflows. The Sensex opened marginally up at 20108.09 from its previous close of 20104.39 and slid below the 20K level amid volatile trading sessions.

Asian markets which opened before Indian market, edged lower.

However, there was plenty of action outside the index stocks, visible from the strong market breadth on BSE. BSE Mid-Cap and BSE Small-Cap indices struck fresh lifetime highs in afternoon trade.

FMCG, consumer durables, sugar, metal and healthcare stocks rose while those of capital goods and auto stocks declined.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 4.3 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 6062.40. Market breadth was strong on BSE. On BSE, 2,216 stocks advanced, 633 stocks declined and 29 stocks remained unchanged.

Sixteen out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack advanced.

BSE Mid Cap index rose 1.3 per cent to 9498.07 and hit a fresh all time high of 9518.86. BSE Small Cap index rose 1.91 per cent to 12236.95 and hit a fresh all time high of 12262.12. Both these indices outperformed Sensex.

Sugar stocks firmed up. Bajaj Hindustan was up 6.88 per cent to Rs 254.15, Balrampur Chini up 3.69 per cent to Rs 107.30, Dhampur Sugars was up 7.34 per cent to Rs 87.05, Shree Renuka Sugars was up 5.94 per cent to Rs 908.10.

Healthcare stocks rose with Fortis Healthcare rising 18.23 per cent to Rs 102.80, Wockhardt was up 3.99 per cent to Rs 424, Cadila Healthcare up 4.98 per cent to Rs 335, and Cipla up 1.96 per cent to Rs 207.75.

Capital goods stocks declined with Bharat Heavy Electricals down 0.68 per cent to Rs 2573.75, Larsen&Toubro was down 1.18 per cent to Rs 4,185 and Bharat Earth Movers was down 1.77 per cent.

UNI