Major stock indices slumped on Thursday on account of expiry of June derivative contracts and concern over weak monsoon data. Selling pressure on heavyweight stocks such as ONGC and Reliance Industries due to Government’s decision to defer gas price revision till September resulted in the downward movement.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed with a loss of 251 points at 25063. The loss was led by oil and gas, realty, PSU and metal stocks. The top losers included ONGC (down 5.89 per cent), Reliance (3.70 per cent) and NTPC (2.77 per cent). The CNX NSE Nifty too closed 76 points lower at 7492.
“Initially, negative global cues and weakness in shares of oil and gas majors as the government clarified that currently there is no proposal to hike LPG and kerosene prices, dampened sentiment. It further deteriorated after an update on weak monsoon by Indian Metrological Department,” said Jayant Manglik, President (retail distribution), Religare Secu-rities.
Rupee holds ground The Indian rupee closed at 60.14 against the dollar, down two paise on Thursday. The rupee opened at 60.08, five paise up from the previous day close of 60.12 and touched intra-day low of 60.19.
