Stock indices touched record intra-day high on Monday but dipped later following a ruling by the Supreme Court on coal block allocation case saying that allocations post 1993 were “illegal”.
Meanwhile, the rupee fell against the dollar to close at 60.56 compared to its previous close of 60.47 on Friday.
The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) closed at 26437.02 with a marginal gain of 17.47 points, after touching an intra-day high of 26630.74.
However, all other broader indices ended in the red. The BSE 100 lost 0.25 per cent while the BSE 200 and BSE 500 closed down by 0.28 per cent each. Mid-cap stocks dipped by 0.63 per cent while small-cap stocks lost 0.35 per cent. Metal stocks were the worst hit with the metal index falling by 4.62 per cent followed by realty (2.25 per cent) and power (1.43 per cent). Meanwhile, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) gained 1.26 per cent and information technology (0.95 per cent).
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE) the 50-share Nifty closed at 7906.30 with a loss of 6.90 points. It touched an intra-day record high of 7968.25.
“Markets hit fresh all time highs intra-day, with the Sensex touching 26630.74, before falling sharply over the last 30 minutes, and finishing the day with a small gain,” said Raghu Kumar, Co-Founder RKSV, a leading broking firm.
“While IT stocks did well with the BSE IT Index climbing more than one per cent, the market took a big hit in the after noon when it was announced by the Supreme Court that it was illegal to allocate coal blocks to certain firms over others. All metal stocks fell sharply, with Hindalco leading the list with a massive 9.56 per cent drop,” Mr. Kumar added.
The Supreme Court said that coal block allocations via screening panel since 1993 were illegal.
The apex court said that it will decide on the consequences of illegality on September 1.
