Stock indices continued their downward spiral on the bourses on Wednesday while the rupee remained weak against the dollar throughout the trading session.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 18664.88, down by 68.16 points. However, some sectoral indices gained smartly. Realty stocks gained 5.04 per cent followed by metal (3.31 per cent), power (2.82 per cent), oil & gas (2.76 per cent), PSUs (2.40 per cent), consumer durables (1.04 per cent) and banks (0.51 per cent). Other sectoral indices which ended in the red included information technology stocks (1.60 per cent), automobiles (1.46 per cent), fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) (1.37 per cent) and technology (1.16 per cent).
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share Nifty closed at 5519.10 with a loss of 23.15 points. However, stocks of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL) closed up 5.62 per cent at Rs.168.10 on the BSE after the National Spot Exchange Ltd. (NSEL) disclosed stock positions as on July 31, 2013. NSEL is the wholly-owned subsidiary of FTIL.
Asian stocks
Asian stock markets closed mostly lower, with the exception of Singapore’s Straits Times index. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 4 per cent after overnight losses in the U.S. on monetary-policy concerns, along with gains for the yen.
European stocks were lower in early trade, with the CAC, DAX and FTSE all down.