Sensex dips 114 pts as investors square-off

Mumbai, Oct 23: The investors at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in a volatile day booked profit and squared off their derivative positions before the derivatives contracts come to an end on October 26, instigating the Sensex to close 114 points down at 12,623.28.

Investors also as a measure of caution have held up their buying to let the financial results be declared completely before they pick and choose their stocks.

The S&P CNX Nifty too lost 26.20 points or 0.71 per cent to close at 3657.30.

The breadth in the broader market, too, was negative in favour of 981 advances as against 1,428 declines out of total 2,469 scrips that traded the BSE counters today.

Today, the Sensex opened 21 points in the green though it soon dipped into the negative zone as the volatility emerged in the heavyweight stocks. Index touched a low of 12,612.36 points and a high of 12,766.30 which, however, was only marginally higher than the previous close.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2,409 crore.

The Asian markets were mixed on Monday. Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.82 per cent today to its highest close in five months. The Nikkei 225 index climbed 137.19 points to 16,788.82, the highest close since May 11. And Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.13 per cent or 23.70 points to close at 18,089.85 Amongst the sectoral indices on BSE, all the sectors closed down in red, led by Consumer Durables, which was down by 1.88 per cent, and was followed by Bankex which slipped to 1.41 per cent, whereas FMCG and Metals were down by 1.35 per cent each.

Major gainers on the BSE-30 index were Bajaj Auto up by 2.07 per cent to Rs 2,819.00, HDFC Bank up by 0.93 per cent to Rs 970.10, Reliance Energy up by 0.89 per cent to Rs 465.30, Maruti Udyog up by 0.63 per cent to Rs 946.45, BHEL up by 0.54 per cent to Rs 2,447.25 and Reliance Communications up by 0.38 per cent to Rs 369.30.

Besides, the losers on the index were ICICI Bank down by 2.34 per cent to Rs 720.55, Cipla down by 2.21 per cent to Rs 256.90, ITC down by 1.99 per cent to Rs 184.75, Inosys down by 1.53 per cent to Rs 2,042.55, Gujarat Ambuja down by 1.51 per cent to Rs 120.80, SBI down by 1.51 per cent to Rs 1,024.45, Tata steel down by 1.40 per cent to Rs 508.90, Dr Reddy's Lab down by 1.27 per cent to Rs 712.60 and TCS down by 1.24 per cent to Rs 1,078.50.

UNI

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