Weak overseas cues continued to haunt the Indian stock market for the second straight day on Tuesday and the Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index declined by 115 points and closed at 15551.19 against 15661.64 on Monday due to heavy selling in stocks from infrastructure-related sectors.
After adding over 300 points by mid-day on positive cues from other Asian markets, the Sensex wiped off all its intra-day gains following a weak opening in European markets and ended the day down by 115.45 points at 15551.19.
A sharp plunge in Chinese markets had led to heavy selling on Indian bourses on Monday, pulling the Sensex down by 255.70 points. While Chinese stocks bounced back on Tuesday, the resultant positive impact on the domestic market failed to sustain through the day.
Selling pressure was prominent in realty, metal, power and capital goods stocks, even as auto stocks rallied ahead on good monthly sales figures.
ACC, Sterlite, Hindalco, HDFC, BHEL, Jaiprakash Associates and ONGC were among the major losers, while automakers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero Honda posted smart gains.
The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange moved down by 36.75 points to 4625.35.
Rupee crosses 49-mark
The rupee dropped by 21 paise to close at 49.03/04 a dollar on Tuesday due to weakness in the stock markets. It closed at 48.83 on Monday.
The rupee resumed higher at 48.72/74 from its Monday’s close of 48.82/83.
It later touched a high of 48.65 on the back of smart recovery in the domestic stock markets. A sudden negative turnaround in the stock market weighed on the rupee and it fell to a low of 49.04 before settling at 49.03/04 — PTI the level not seen since July 17, 2009.
The Indian bellwether Sensex ended lower by 115.45 points or 0.74 per cent after overnight fall of nearly 256 points while Asian indices close higher by up to 2.84 per cent.
