In see-saw trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today extended losses for the second day by losing another over 300 points on heavy selling in blue-ship stocks like RIL and ICICI Bank.
The 30-share barometer settled the day lower by 303.36 points, or 3.08 per cent, at
9,536.33 after swinging wildly on alternate bouts of selling and buying. In two days it has shed nearly 1,000 points.
The bellwether index lost 280 points in early trade but it recovered sharply on encouraging numbers on industrial growth. It even seemed that the crucial 10,000 level is very well within the day's trade when the index touched the day's high of 9928.60 points.
However, by mid-session profit-booking emerged bringing the Sensex steeply lower. It even plunged to day's low of 9376.73 points before rising again to settle day at 9,536.33 points.
The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also lost 90.20 points, or 3.07 per cent, to close at 2,848.45 points.
Marketmen said sentiments were so weak that even 4.8 per cent industrial growth in September, a reversal of abysmal performance in August, failed to revive buying support.
A fall in excise duty collection in October, coupled with a decline of 15 per cent in country's exports in the same month have severely damaged sentiments.
Realty sector index suffered the the most by losing 7.34 per cent at 2,046.64 as stocks of DLF Ltd fell by 8.61 per cent at Rs. 244,60, Indiabull Realty by 13.82 per cent at Rs. 112.60 and Unitech Ltd by 4.02 per cent at Rs. 49. MORE PTI
Reliance Industries, the heaviest among all Sensex-related stocks, also declined by 3.72 per cent.