Paring initial gains, the benchmark Sensex on Friday closed below 16,000 level on selling pressure sparked by a drop in profit of Reliance Industries, the country’s most valued company.
The Sensex, which gained nearly 300 points in early trade, fell back to show a loss of 156.44 points at 15,896.28 as blue-chips Reliance and Infosys fell on profit-selling at existing higher levels.
Among 30 sensex stocks, 19 declined and 11 ended with gains.
Shares of Reliance Industries fell by nearly 3.62 per cent to Rs 1,931.25, a day after the company reported a 6.4 per cent drop in its net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal.
Second heaviest on the benchmark, Infosys Technologies lost 0.10 per cent to Rs 2,205.40. The two carry nearly 23 per cent weight on the Sensex.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 38.85 points at 4,711.70, after touching the day’s low of 4,687.50.
The oil and gas sector index suffered the most by 2.79 per cent to 9,434.43 followed by teck index by 1.93 per cent to 2,855.37.
