The benchmark Sensex today slipped 265 points from a record close, the most in more than a month, amid profit booking and mixed global cues.
The S&P BSE Sensex, which ended at 21,239.36 during the special Diwali 'Muhurat' trading on Sunday, snapped five days of gains and fell 264.57 points, or 1.25 per cent, to close at 20,974.79. Today's fall was the worst since September 30, when it lost 347.50 points.
ITC, ICICI Bank and TCS were the biggest drag as 22 of the 30 index stocks declined. FMCG, healthcare and IT sector stocks fell. The Sensex had gained 669.08 points in the previous five trading days.
The 50-share CNX on the National Stock Exchange declined 64.20 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 6,253.15. The SX40 index on the MCX Stock Exchange closed at 12,494.1, down 105.43 points.
India's services sector contracted for the fourth successive month amid economic uncertainty. The HSBC/Markit purchasing managers index for the services industry was at 47.1 in October from 44.6 in September. An index value of below 50 indicates contraction.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today exuded confidence that India's current account deficit will be contained below USD 60 billion this financial year against an earlier estimate of USD 70 billion.
Asian stocks ended mixed amid speculation that a meeting of China's top party officials this weekend may struggle to meet market expectations for economic reforms in the world's second-biggest economy.
Key indices in China, Japan and Singapore moved up, while they fell in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan.
