Volatility continues as Sensex falls to 10,573

Mumbai, May 24: Volatility on Sensex today continued as stocks witnessed a swing of 496 points and closed the day with a loss of 249.63 points at 10,573, from the previous close of 10,822.78.

Earlier, during the day, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex) traded at 10,894.63 points at 1310 hrs, up 72 points from the previous close and even touched a high of 11,000 points in the intra-day trading.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty, like its partner, ended the day in red, closing 83.80 points down at 3,115.55.

The sectoral indices showing maximum loss were - BSE metal index, down by 3.61 per cent; BSE oil and gas index by 3.36 per cent; FMCG by 2.53 per cent; auto by 2.76 per cent; midcap by 0.41 per cent; smallcap by 0.38 per cent and PSU was down by 2.27 per cent.

The only gainer was the BSE consumer durables segment with 1.46 per cent and trading at 3,013.11 points.

The major gainers on the benchmark BSE-30 Sensex were Sterlite Biotec, Glaxo Smithklime, Syngenta ltd, Merck, HCL, Infosys and Alok Industries, all gaining between 4-8 per cent.

The big losers today were - ONGC, Tata Steel, Maruti Udyog, Bajaj Auto, Hindustan Lever, HDFC and Wipro, all losing between 4-5.5 per centage points.

The major gainers on the BSE were - Sterlite Biotec, up by 8.07 per cent at Rs 121.85; GlaxoSmithklime, up by 6.06 per cent at Rs 1,177; Syngenta Ltd, up by 5.67 per cent at Rs 343.60; Merck Ltd, by 5.57 per cent at Rs 590.80; HCL Infosys was up by 5.18 per cent at Rs 160.35; Alok Industries by 4.76 per cent at Rs 77.00; Harath Earth Movers was up by 4.72 per cent at Rs 1,297.45; Colgate by 4.45 at Rs 381.80; Bank of Baroda by 4.27 per cent at 239.50 and HMT was up by 3.84 per cent at Rs 60.90.

The major losers were - ONGC, down by 5.89 per cent to Rs 1,164.75; Tata Steel was down by 5.59 per cent to Rs 481.50; Maruti Udyog by 5.26 per cent to Rs 760.35; Bajaj Auto by 4.71 per cent to Rs 2840.90; HLL by 4.62 per cent to Rs 228.30; HDFC by 4.53 per cent to Rs 1185.40; Wipro by 4.27 per cent to Rs 452.95; Tata Power by 3.76 per cent to Rs 529.70; Reliance Energy by 3.20 to Rs 531.65 and Reliance Industries by 3.16 per cent to Rs 938.50.

The breadth in the broader market was negative with 1,366 scrips declining as against 1,101 advances, out of total 2,507 scrips traded on the BSE.

UNI