Sensex dips by 78.52 points; Nifty ends below 4400 mark

Mumbai, Aug 18 (UNI) The key benchmark Sensex today ended in the red at 14,645.66 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with a loss of 78.52 points on sustained offloading by Foreign Institutional Investors and mutual fund operators.

The Nifty index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) was quoted below the 4400 mark to close lower at 4393.05 points, showing a net loss of 37.65 points.

Trading resumed after the three-day holiday, including the Independence day, lower below the 14,700 mark at 14,681.14 with a small loss of 43.04 points.

Select heavyweight stocks ended in negative terrain after trading with extreme volatility throughout the day. Sell off in oil&gas, metal, power, auto, cement, FMCG and realty stocks put pressure on frontline indices.

Most active shares on the bourses were Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, SBI, L &T and HDFC.

On the global front, Asian markets closed weak barring Nikkei.

Shanghai fell 5.34 per cent, Hang Seng 1.09 pc, Jakarta Composite 1.02 pc, Straits Times 0.73 pc, Kospi 0.28 pc and Taiwan Weighted 2.72 pc. However, Nikkei gained 1.12 pc. European markets were trading lower.

FTSE declined by 0.35 pc, CAC 0.54 pc and DAX by 0.80 pc, which affected the Indian bourses, brokers pointed out.

The Sensex touched an intraday high of 14,824.92 and low of 14,600.65, before closing at 14,645.66, down 78.52 points or 0.53 per cent. Nifty index of NSE closed also low at 4393.05, down 37.65 points or 0.85 pc from its last finish of 4430.70 points. It has hit a high and low of 4447.40 and 4379.85 points respectively during the session.

Market breadth was negative with 932 shares advancing, while 1678 shares declined. Nearly 552 shares remained unchanged.

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