The market today opened on a positive note with most of the heavyweights in the green. The 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened with a gain of 133points, 9599. Nifty started the day at 2935, up 42 points.
On Thursday, Sensex ended on a lower note on account of sustained selling pressure seen in frontliners. IT, technology and oil & gas stocks led the declines. Better then expected inflation numbers also failed to lift market sentiment. India`s benchmark wholesale price index (WPI), inflation dropped below 5 per cent. It stood at 4.39 per cent for the week ended Jan 31, 2009 as compared to 5.07 per cent a week ago.
Heavy selling in IT, Teck, and oil stocks saw Sensex shed over 173 points. Sensex ended the day with a loss of 152.71 points, or 1.59 per cent at 9,465.83 after touching a high of 9,580.13 and a low of 9,445.54. The broad-based NSE Nifty declined 32.65 points, or 1.12per cent at 2,893.05 after hitting a high of 2,939.00 and a low of 2,886.55.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 0.10per cent and 0.71per cent respectively. Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT dropped 2.46per cent, oil & gas declined 1.85per cent, while realty was up 1.30per cent. Major gainers in the 30-share index were Mahindra & Mahindra, DLF, Reliance Infrastructure, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Hindalco.
On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates, Ranbaxy, Bharti Airtel, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank, and Maruti Suzuki (India) were the major losers in the Sensex.
— Shailesh Shah
