BSE Sensex crashes by 90.46 points

Mumbai, May 23: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)'s Sensitive Index, after rallying for five consecutive sessions, today crashed by 90.46 points to finally settle at 14363.26 as the process of consolidation sets in.

The market, which was trading in a narrow range throughout the day, started sliding sharply as traders unwound their positions as they felt the Sensex would not be able to hit new all time highs for some time now. Traders expect the barometer Index to consolidate first before making any significant rise, market analysts said.

After opening higher at 14490.03, the Sensex touched a high of 14500.64 and a low of 14325.89 during the intra-day trade.

Among the broader markets, the National Stock Exchange (NSE)'s Nifty Index also fell by 31.90 points to settle at 4246.20 from it's previous close of 4278.10 points.

It had opened marginally higher at 4279.60 to touch a high of 4291.40 and a low of 4231.05 during intra-day.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, weakened further after staying positive in the opening session on the BSE. Here, 1640 shares declined while 950 advanced and 83 scrips remained unchanged. The total turnover amounted to Rs 5,290 crore. Among the 30-scrip Sensex pack, 17 declined while the rest advanced.

Major losers of the day included Bajaj Auto, Reliance Communications (RComm), Bharti Airtel, RIL, ITC and Tata Motors. The major gainers were housing finance major HDFC, BHEL and Tata Steel.

ll the European markets were trading with gains while majority of Asian markets advanced. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.22 per cent, while the Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.14 per cent. Among the global markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 2.93 points (0.02 per cent) to 13539.95. The broader stock indexes were mixed. The Standard&Poor's 500 slipped 0.98 points (0.06 per cent) to 1524.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 9.23 points (0.36 per cent) to 2588.02.

Crude oil prices dropped below USD 65 a barrel as investors sold contracts before their expiration yesterday, and before the US government's weekly inventory report. The June contract for light, sweet crude, which expired yesterday, lost USD 1.30 to settle at USD 64.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The July contract also fell USD 1.36 to close at USD 65.51 a barrel.

Besides, the July Brent crude slipped 97 cents to USD 69.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

UNI