Sensex down 177 pts, closes below 15k

{image-sensex, big_10062008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Mumbai, June 10: The downward trend continued in the stock markets on Tuesday with the benchmark Sensex closing below 15,000 points level by losing nearly 177 points as selling pressure in heavyweight stocks mainly in banking, realty and metal sectors showed no signs of lessening.

The 30-share Sensex, which had lost over 500 points in the previous day's trading, dropped further by 176.85 at 14,889.25, its lowest level in three months The key index moved touched the day's high of 15,088.03 and low 14,645.31 points. The BSE barometer had lost over 875 points in the past three trading sessions as funds remained net sellers, particularly in banking and financial companies. The 50-scrip National Stock Exchange index Nifty also fell by 51.15 points to close at 4,449.80. It breached the crucial 4,400 level at 4369.80 during intra-day and touched a high of 4,522.55 points.

Banking sector lost the most as its index lost 170.99 points at 6,862.33, followed by metal index by 123.69 points at 15,265.92.

Realty sector index fell by 121.61 points at 5,630.61, it sector index by 121.02 at 4,283.96 and consumer durable index by 93.08 points at 3,840.96.

As the selling pressure spilled over a wide-front, small-cap index dropped by 75.38 points at 7,341.16 and mid-cap index by 66.50 points at 6,103.83.

However, a firming trend in pharmaceutical stocks supported the market to avert any further fall. Healthcare index gained 93.16 points at 4,411.91 and oil and gas sector index by 14.67 points at 9,691.22.

OneNews India