Sensex down by 94 pts on profit-booking

The Sensex hovered in a range between 17,806.21 and 17,688.34 points before quoting at 17,710.62 at 1015 hours, a net loss of 94.18 points, or 0.53 per cent, from last weekend’s close. File Photo

The BSE benchmark Sensex was down by 94 points in early trade on Monday, on profit-booking by operators in refinery, metal, consumer durable and auto stocks on the back of weak Asian cues.

The Sensex hovered in a range between 17,806.21 and 17,688.34 points before quoting at 17,710.62 at 1015 hours, a net loss of 94.18 points, or 0.53 per cent, from last weekend’s close.

The NSE’s 50-share Nifty Index also moved down by 34.90 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 5,325.80 at 1015 hours.

Maruti Suzuki India tumbled by 2.67 per cent after the company announced on Saturday that its net profit fell by 59.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs. 240.44 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, on account of a 14.36 per cent fall in total income to Rs. 7,949.36 crore.

The other losers in early trade were Tata Motors (down 3.10 per cent), Sterlite Industries (2.56 per cent), Hindalco Industries (2.25 per cent) and ONGC (2.06 per cent).

Asian shares fell in early trade in the wake of a nearly 10 per cent rally last week after Europe laid out a basic framework to tackle its debt crisis.

The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by between 0.3 per cent and 1.08 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei Average was up by 0.25 per cent.