Sensex ends in red; 17.82 points down

Mumbai, Apr 1: The benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange today ended the first session of the new financial year in the red, down by a marginal 17.82 points at 15,626.62 on alternate bouts of buying and selling in select pivotals. After opening on a firm note at 15,771.72, 127 points up from its previous close of 15,644.44, Sensex swung between an intraday high at 15,834.05 and a low of 15,297.96 during the day.

Meanwhile, the broader-based Nifty index of National Stock Exchange touched a day's high at 4,800.75 and a low of 4,628.75, before ending with a marginal gain of 5.05 points at 4,739.55 in late trade. After opening on a firm note, market lost ground by early afternoon trade. It recovered in mid-afternoon, led by recovery in index heavyweights including Reliance Industries (RIL) and ICICI Bank, brokers said.

Overall, the market witnessed low volumes amid fluctuating share prices throughout the day as some jobbers stayed away from the market, protesting the change in tax format of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) that came into force from today, brokers said.

However, the market breadth was strong. Sixteen scrips from the 30-member Sensex pack advanced. The BSE Midcap index was down 0.50 pc to 6,395.42, while Smallcap index rose 0.31pc to 7,865.90.

The total turnover on BSE slipped to Rs 4697 crore from Rs 5,941.63 crore in the previous session due to fall in arbitrage activity.

The total turnover in NSE's futures &options segment amounted to Rs 47200.87 crore as compared to Rs 49087.03 crore yesterday.

Majority of sectoral indices on BSE ended the day in red. However, FMCG and Oil&Gas index posted gain of nearly three per cent and outperformed the Sensex Index heavyweights, Reliance Industries advanced 2.97 pc to Rs 2331.80 on 10.48 lakh shares. The stock moved in a range of Rs 2245.50 and Rs 2375 during the day.

Hindustan Unilever jumped 4.39 pc to Rs 238.75 on 2.49 lakh shares.

It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. Reliance Energy surged 3.11 pc to Rs 1290.

Bharat Heavy Electricals was the top loser of the sensex, down by 8 pc to Rs 1892 followed by Mahindra&Mahindra by 6.52 pc at Rs 650.30, Larsen&Toubro by 4.24 pc to Rs 2894, after hitting low of Rs 2845, Tata Steel declined 3.77pc to Rs 667 and DLF was down 3.60 pc to Rs 623.20.

Most of the banking shares extnded the losses. ICICI Bank was down 1.83 pc to Rs 756, after hitting a low of Rs 732 and HDFC Bank declined 1.13 pc to Rs 1305.10, after touching a low of Rs 1271.

However, State Bank of India rose 1.45 pc to Rs 1622.

UNI