Sensex closes lower on political concerns

Sensex closed with a loss of over 85 points sparked by reports of widening differences between the UPA government and Left parties over the nuclear deal with the US.

A mid-way selling wiped off initial gains on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday and the benchmark Sensex closed with a loss of over 85 points sparked by reports of widening differences between the UPA government and Left parties over the nuclear deal with the US.

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The Sensex, which gained 306 points in early trade, turned jittery following reports that CPI-M Central Committee has endorsed party Politburo's decision to ask government not to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal. The 30-share index ended with a loss of 84.68 points at 14,163.98 points. It touched a high of 14,554.93 and a low of 14,128.72 points.

In similar fashion, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty surrendered 38.20 points at 4114.95, after trading in a range of 4,100.80 and 4,249.85 points.

As the reports of the CPI (M) deciding to back away from the nuclear deal with the US came in, the market turned highly volatile. The major puller to the market were bank stocks as the segment index fell 163.63 points at 7,224.29, followed by oil and gas index by 126.18 points at 7,385.15 points.