The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday dropped nearly 190 points to its lowest level in a month on heavy selling by funds, rattled by fraud charges against Goldman Sachs Group and fears of an imminent rate hike.
The Sensex, which has been on a descend for the past four sessions, dropped further by 190.50 points to 17,400.68, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Goldman Sachs for fraud tied to collateralised debt obligations.
In the 30 share BSE index, 24 shares fell while six ended in the positive zone.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also dropped by 58.95 points to 5,203.65, after touching the day’s low of 5,160.90.
Marketmen said investors were reluctant to enlarge their positions ahead of the Reserve Bank of India policy meet tomorrow, fearing further hike in borrowing cost to contain inflation.
A weak global stock market trend and lower opening in Europe also influenced trading sentiment to some extent.
Sensex heavy-weight Reliance Industries dropped by Rs. 21.35 to Rs. 1,061.95 while Infosys Technologies by Rs. 33.60 to Rs. 2,752.20.
The two carry nearly 23 per cent weightage on the benchmark.
The Realty sector index suffered the most by losing 2.51 per cent to 3,460.57 followed by the metal sector index that lost 2.11 per cent to 17,840.11.
