Erasing early gains, the BSE Sensex on Tuesday snapped a five-day winning streak and fell 85 points to 17,622.45, on profit booking amid low growth projection for this financial year and a weak trend in global markets. Capital goods, realty, power, metals, technology and auto stocks lost ground.
Sensex heavyweights such as Infosys, HDFC, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, BHEL, and HUL closed in the red. However, gains in Reliance Industries, ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS cushioned the fall to some extent. Top heavyweight RIL gained 1.44 per cent and restricted losses.
The NSE 50-scrip index Nifty fell 26.5 points, or 0.49 per cent, to close at 5,335.15. “The advance GDP numbers acted as a dampener for investor sentiments. The volatility was quite high, as the market witnessed another round of profit booking around the last hour of the session,” said Shanu Goel, research analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.
Key indices in China, Japan and Hong Kong fell by up to 1.7 per cent, while those in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan gained by up to 0.6 per cent.
European markets were trading lower in the afternoon. Indices in France, Germany and the UK were down by up to 0.52 per cent.