Reliance and Infosys prove biggest drag on Sensex

It was the biggest fall for the Sensex in a single day on Thursday since May 17, 2004. While it took the market barometer a mere eight sessions to climb from 8000 to 8500, Thursday's fall of 265.50 points has shaved off more than half of the gains.

Interestingly, all the 30 stocks that constitute the Sensex ended in the red on Thursday. The two stocks with the highest weightage in the index, Reliance Industries and Infosys proved to be the biggest drag on the index.

Click here to see table: INDEXING THE FALL

While Reliance Industries lost 3.53 per cent to close at Rs 755.05, Infosys shed 2.12 per cent to close at Rs 2412.95. Again, while the losses in the former led to a 34.02-point decline in the index, the impact of Infosys losses was much lower on the index, amounting to 19.31 points.

The other big contributors to the Sensex fall were Bharti Tele-Ventures (down 4.39 per cent at Rs 335.30), ITC (down 2.60 per cent at Rs 136.50), ONGC (down 4.18 per cent at Rs 996) and Satyam Computers (down 4.93 per cent at Rs 528.15). The combined losses in these counters amounted to a 59.16 point loss for the index.

On the other hand, pharma stock Dr Reddy's Laboratories had the least impact on the index, stock lost 1.17 per cent to close at Rs 794.35, which translated into a minimal 0.87 point decline in the index.

Maruti Udyog (down 2.08 per cent at Rs 544), Cipla (down 1.63 per cent at Rs 349.10) and Hero Honda (down 2.11 per cent at Rs 692.25) were some other stocks, which did not have much of an impact on the Sensex.

In terms of percentage losses, metal stock Hindalco topped the table. The stock lost 6.63 per cent to close at Rs 145.10. Other big losers on the day were Reliance Energy (down 6.01 per cent at Rs 542.35) and Satyam Computers (down 4.93 per cent at Rs 528.15).