Sensex sheds 157 points on weak rupee

With the rupee cracking the Rs 55 barrier against the greenback, the BSE Sensex took a tumble plunging by about 150 points at the close today.

The Sensex closed at 16,026.41, a loss of 156.85 points and the Nifty ended at 4,860.50, down by 45.55 points.

Panic button

While the fall sent alarms across the market, the major losers among the Sensex counters were only a handful, though the gainer-loser ratio of 4:26 may look as if the investors had pressed the panic button.

Even among the banking stocks figuring in the Sensex, the extent of the loss was not uniform.

Bank stocks

SBI was the biggest loser in terms of value, shedding Rs 68.90 to close at Rs 1,938.50. But the other two banking stocks in the Sensex — HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, though lost value, were not singed as much.

HDFC Bank was down by Rs 8.40 to Rs 489.05 and ICICI Bank lost Rs 9.95 to end the day at Rs 800.85.

Auto counters

Even among the auto stocks, the impact varied, apparently because of the rupee depreciation.

Maruti Suzuki was the second biggest Sensex loser after SBI, losing Rs 54.30 to close at Rs 1,153.20.

But the other auto stocks in the Sensex escaped with minor damage.

Hero Motocorp was down by Rs 9.10 at Rs 1,860.75, M&M lost Rs 8.85 at Rs 638.60 and Bajaj Auto shed Rs 14.65 to close at Rs 1,507.70. But Tata Motors was a gainer, up by Rs 3.05 at Rs 264.80.

While L&T, with a loss of Rs 25.85 at Rs 1,163.15, and Sun Pharma, which closed at Rs 575.80, down by Rs 17.25, were the other major losers. The rest managed to limit their losses to single digit.

Apart from Tata Motors, the other gainers were BHEL up by Rs 2.15 at Rs 208.60, HDFC up by Rs 1.55 at Rs 642.60 and TCS that gained Rs 14.10 at Rs 1,223.

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