The Hindu Business Line : Markets take a break; Sensex down in choppy trade

MUMBAI: The markets snapped the two-day rally on Wednesday with Sensex closing 28 points down from the previous close as profit booking set in at the fag end of the trade, amidst weak opening in Europe.

The Sensex, which commenced the day higher, continued to fluctuate between 17,329.68 and 17,142.36 points during the day before ending with a loss of 28.36 points at 17,169.91 points.

Market men said a resistance emerged in the last 30 minutes of trading after the market rose nearly 566 points in last two trading sessions, which attracted profit selling at higher levels, adding a weak European opening further fuelled selling pressure.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty 50, however ended flat with a marginal gain of 1.25 points to end a volatile day at 5,123.25 points, after moving between 5161.75 and 5,111.75 points during the intra-day.

The Sensex would have lost more had it not been for the Reliance and Infosys Technologies counters which held ground.

These two stocks carry nearly 23 per cent weightage on the Sensex.

In 30-BSE index-related scrips, 11 advanced and 19 ended with small to notable losses. The down-trend was supported by stocks in power, FMCG, capital goods, consumer durables, IT, and metals.

On the other hand, shares of realty, auto, bank, healthcare and oil and gas sector suffered losses on emergence of profit-booking. - PTI

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