Sensex down by 110.02 pts, closes at 17,015.96

Mumbai, Apr 28: The benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today ended lower at 17,015.96 with a loss of 110.02 points from its last close of 17,125.98 on sustained selling pressure by local operators.

The market ended in the red after gaining for the last two sessions. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell below the 17,000 mark in late trading before once again regaining that level. Capital goods, IT and oil&gas stocks slipped.

Banking shares edged lower, while realty and auto stocks rose ahead of Reserve Bank of India's annual monetary policy review tomorrow. Metal stocks were mixed following reports the government plans to rejig the duty structure to rein in surging steel prices.

The market breadth was negative.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended down by 110.02 points or 0.64 per cent to 17,015.96 points from it last finish. The market had moved in a narrow range, moving between positive and negative zone in early afternoon trade. A bout of volatility was witnessed earlier in the day. The market had opened on a firm note, extending last week's rally. Sensex hit a high of 17,271.56 in early trade and a low of 16,978.89 in late trade.

The major key heavyweight stocks ended in red with moderate losses on account of buying interest in index pivitols. Capital goods, power, IT and oil&gas stocks witnessed selling pressure.

However, consumer durables, realty, pharma stocks witnessed buying interest. Broader markets showed relative strength and closed flat.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mixed and European markets were trading firm.

Jaiprakash Asso, Reliance Energy, HDFC Bank, Sterlite Ind, Tata Comm Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel were among the top gainers on the bourses. Cipla, Tata Steel, Wipro, ABB and Cipla were top losers on the bourses. About 1396 shares have advanced, 1467 shares declined, and 216 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5511 crore as compared to Rs 6060.58 crore on April 25. The BSE indices also suffered a major setback on profit booking as the BSE CG index crashed steeply by 166.83 points and ended low at 13,755.04 points, followed by OILS&GAS index by 124.57 to 11,430.02 points, METAL Index by 110.96 to 15,624.22 points, BANKEX index by 51.24 to 8816.84, IT index by 36.63 to 4026.74, AUTO index by 26.36 to 4577.20 points and SML CAP index by 17.90 to 8709.82 points, brokers added.

UNI