The Sensex opened in the negative, touching a high of 4,868.43 and a low of 4,800.67 in intra-day trades today, staying in the red for the entire session. The NSE S&P CNX Nifty lost 23.80 points to close at 1,540.60.
The overall mood of the market appears bearish amid fears that foreign fund inflows might taper off towards the end of the year.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers at Rs 12.40 crore on Tuesday and Rs 20.40 crore on Monday though mutual funds were net purchasers on both days at Rs 23.75 crore and 6.8 crore.
Select buying continued in mid-cap stocks but the broader trend was negative with more stocks declining than advancing. Companies whose prices declined on the BSE was at 864 compared to 503 companies advancing.
While selling pressure continued from foreign funds, players continued to liquidate positions in the derivatives segment following the imposition of additional margins by NSE last week.
Index heavyweights Reliance, Hindustan Lever and SBI contributed to the overall weakness in the market. Hindustan Lever was down 2.16 per cent at Rs 179.20, State Bank of India was down 1.21 per cent at Rs 459.50 and Reliance Industries was down 1.13 per cent at Rs 460.50. ITC was up 1.21 per cent at Rs 872.50.
Technology counters were in the limelight as funds were out bargain-hunting in the sector. But here too there was some profit taking towards the end.
Infosys Technologies was up 1.10 per cent at Rs 4,661.10.
L&T was down 4.84 per cent at Rs 368.70. Cement pivotal Grasim was down 3.42 per cent at Rs 838.30 and ACC was down 2.49 per cent at Rs 219.40. The anticipated price hike not coming through seems to have weighed heavy on the sector.
Power sector pivotals Reliance Energy was down 4.59 per cent at Rs 448.70 and Tata Power Company was down 2.73 per cent at Rs 262.30.
ICICI Bank was down 3.38 per cent at Rs 228.40. HDFC Bank closed flat at Rs 310.75.
