Led by heavy seling in information technology (IT) stocks, profit booking at the bourses continued unabated for the third consecutive day forcing the benchmark indices to close in the red. The 30-share Sensex, which opened with a positive gap of around 150 points, ended the day with a loss of 110.84 points or 0.57% to close at 19,289.83 points. The broader S&P CNX Nifty, on the other hand, closed almost flat at 5,782.35 points, down 4.15 points or 0.07%.
Though Asian markets were trading firm, the appreciating rupee and weak opening of the European markets were chiefly resposible for triggering profit booking at the domestic bourses, dealers said. The rupee ended at 39.14 against the dollar on Wednesday.
Hong Kong?s Hang Seng was up 2.05%, Singapore?s Straits Times 0.15%, South Korea?s Seoul Composite 1.01%, and Taiwan?s Taiwan Weighted 0.93%, while Japan?s Nikkei 225 was down 0.22%.
Infosys Technologies, which fell by 5.78% or around Rs 107, led to the fall of the 30-share Sensex, which witnessed a choppy session throughout the day. It opened with a positive gap of around 150 points but soon slipped into negative territory.
Ashvin Arora, director, Optimix investment solutions, said, ?The pain from the US mortgage crisis will be felt for long. And with the hot money manipulation being controlled, the market will surely witness a lull period for some time. Even the appreciating rupee is effecting exports like garments, leather and is also taking a toll on IT companies.?
According to the provisional data released by the stock exchanges, foreign instutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 431.41 crore. However, as per data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), FIIs have turned net sellers to the tune of around Rs 1,004.50 crore till November 6.
A fund manager said, ?Markets ended on a weak note as investors preferred to book profits in absence of any major triggers. Positive global cues did lift the sentiment during in early trade but weak European markets pushed the domestic bourses lower by the end of the day’s trading.?