Sensex snaps five-day gaining spree, ends 165.27 points down

Mumbai, July 24 (UNI) Snapping the five-day upward march, the Sensex today slid by 165.27 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange to close at 14,777.01, amidst bouts of volatility.

Though the benchmark index of BSE opened the session on a positive note at 15,082.37, breaching the 15 K level and a high of 15,130.09 at a gain of 187.81 points in early trade, it failed to hold on to the gains for long on stimulated profit booking interest at higher level and dropped at a low of 14,608 and lost 334.23 points in late trade.

Similarly, Nify index of National Stock Exchange, after starting the day on a flat note, touched a high of 4,439.45 and a low of 4,385.85 and finally settled with a negative gap of 43.25 points at 4,433.55.

IT stocks were worst hit as the Rupee zoomed to its highest against the dollar in more than two months. Oil&gas stocks remained in green as global crude oil prices slipped further.

BSE sectoral indices were mixed. Oil&Gas ended up by 1.51 pc, realty gained 0.59 pc whereas auto and public sector units ended marginally up. However, IT slipped 2.77 pc, power dropped 1.95 pc and bankex tumbled 1.76 pc.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.62 pc to 5,580.90 and Small-Cap index shed 0.24pc to 6,796.11.

The market breadth was weak on BSE with 1262 shares advancing as compared to 1454 that declined and 67 remained unchanged.

A turnover of Rs 7398 crore was quoted on BSE as against Rs 7,467 in the previous session.

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