Sensex snaps six-day rally, loses 190 points to end at 26,846

After straight six-day rally - the longest since mid-June - Sensex finally tanked by 190 points on Thursday to fall below the 27,000-mark, tracking weakness in other Asian markets amid investors waiting for the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting.

After straight six-day rally - the longest since mid-June - Sensex finally tanked by 190 points on Thursday to fall below the 27,000-mark, tracking weakness in other Asian markets amid investors waiting for the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting.

Sensex(File Photo)

Traders said caution was also seen after the index zoomed by 1,419.01 points in the previous six sessions.

The rally, since September 29, was triggered by Reserve Bank’s bigger-than-expected 0.50% rate cut, which was followed by heightened hopes of a delay in the US rate hike.

“With the week light on data, markets tuned in on the minutes of FOMC’s September meeting due late in the day. This gave investors a reason to take profits from recent gains,” said Anand James, Co-Technical Head Research Desk at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Global markets were down as investors awaited minutes from the Fed’s last meeting for clues on the timing of a rate hike.

The upcoming earnings season with Infosys due to post July-September results on October 12 and macroeconomic data including inflation and industrial output next week, also forced players to opt for a cautious stance.

The BSE Sensex after rising to 27,120.11 at the outset, slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 26,762.36 as participants trimmed positions at higher levels before ending at 26,845.81 -- a fall of 190.04 points or 0.70%.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries was the biggest loser with a of 2.70%, followed by GAIL 2.52%.

“Reliance Industries were in news today after the ongoing probe in its dispute with ONGC was seen turning against RIL,” said Achin Goel, head of wealth management and financial planning at Bonanza Portfolio.

Moreover, ITC, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, M&M, Lupin, TCS, Bajaj Auto, L&T, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and Cipla tanked up to 2.06%.

The 50-share NSE Nifty also succumbed to profit-booking and ended 48.05 points or 0.59% lower at 8,129.35 after moving between 8,196.75 and 8,105.85 during the day.

From Asia, China ended higher by 2.97%, catching up to a rally in global equities as trading resumed after a week-long break. South Kored inched up by 0.68% while indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan moved down by 0.50% to 0.99%.

Europe was lower on weak exports data from Germany and caution ahead of the release of the minutes from the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Key indices in France and germany eased by 0.04% to 0.32% while UK’s FTSE was quoted higher by 0.01%.

Back home, 19 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended lower.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO said: “Today local indices traded weak... as some of the investors were in the profit-booking mode at the higher levels and some of the investors fell short of the confidence and felt that the further upside movement is limited.”

Major losers were RIL (2.70 pc), GAIL (2.52 pc), ITC (2.06 pc), ICICI Bank (1.57 pc), NTPC (1.41 pc), Sun Pharma (1.14 pc) and Axis Bank (1.12 pc).

While, Vedanta rose by 2.37%, followed by Tata Steel 1.56%, Hero MotoCorp 0.82%, BHEL 0.57% and Dr Reddy’s 0.48%.

Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG fell by 1.04%, followed by healthcare 1%, oil&gas 0.85%, bankex 0.77%, captial goods 0.56%, auto 0.53%, realty 0.51% and power 0.49%.

Small-cap and mid-cap indices also fell by 0.15% to 1.01%.

The market breadth turned negative, as 1,479 stocks ended in red, 1,267 stocks finished in green while 114 ruled steady. The total turnover dropped to Rs 3,092.39 crore from Rs 3,250.25 crore on Wednesday.