Market plunges at midsession on profit selling

The Sensex fell sharply to trade lower by 251.27 points as funds and retail customers indulged in booking profits at higher levels.

Profit selling at existing higher levels pulled down the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex by 251 points at midsession on Wednesday following a fall in heavy-weight stocks led by Reliance Industries and Infosys.

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The Sensex, which had gained over 94 points at open, fell sharply to trade lower by 251.27 points at 1330 hrs as funds and retail customers indulged in booking profits at higher levels.

In similar fashion, wide-based National Stock Exchange index's Nifty lost 57.55 points at 4,595.45.

Selling pressure wiped off recent gains in most of the index-linked stocks such as Reliance Industries, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank. All these stocks carry nearly 35 per cent weightage on the Sensex.

At 1330 hrs, 21 stocks were down and 9 still maintained moderate gains in the 30-share BSE Sensex.