E-Paper
Sensex falls 18 points, gauge climbs 25% in fiscal 2014-15
The benchmark Sensex on Tuesday inched lower by about 18 points to close at 27,957.49, wrapping up 2014-15 with hefty 25% gain -- its best performance in six fiscal years -- buoyed by foreign investments after the Narendra Modi-led government took charge.
The benchmark Sensex on Tuesday inched lower by about 18 points to close at 27,957.49, wrapping up 2014-15 with hefty 25% gain -- its best performance in six fiscal years -- buoyed by foreign investments after the Narendra Modi-led government took charge.
After jumping 205 points in early trade, the 30-share index frittered away gains on emergence of profit-booking at the fag-end and ended with a marginal fall of 18.37 points or 0.07%.
However, the mid-cap and small-cap indices outperformed the broader markets, ending with a rise of 0.31% and 0.88%, respectively, the brokers said.
The NSE Nifty also succumbed to selling pressure and closed 1.30 points down at 8,491. It gained about 27% for the fiscal year.
"Amid volatility, equity markets closed almost unchanged on last trading session of the financial year," said Jayant
Manglik, president-retail distribution, Religare Securities.
Brokers said higher levels could not be sustained as participants turned cautious and indulged in profit-booking.
Besides, a mixed closing at other Asian markets and a weak opening in Europe also cast a shadow here, they added.
Bucking the trend, stocks of Tata Power gained the most among Sensex constituents by rising 3.42%. GAIL with a rise of 2.37%, followed by Dr Reddy's 1.91% and Tata Motors 1.85%.
Sectorally, the BSE Banking index suffered the most by falling 0.81%, Capital Goods index by 0.49%, IT index by 0.20% and FMCG index by 0.19%.
During the fiscal 2014-15, Sensex has gone up by 5,571.22 points, or 24.88% to 27,957.49 from 22,386.27 on March 31, 2014. The gauge had touched all-time high of 30,024.74 on March 4 this year.
On similar lines, the NSE's Nifty zoomed by 1,786.80 points, or 26.65%, to settle the fiscal at 8,491 after scaling lifetime high of 9,119.20 on March 4 this year.
Foreigners sold shares worth a net Rs 240.34 crore on Tuesday while Domestic Institutional Investors bought shares worth a net Rs 651.67 crore in Monday's trade, as per provisional data.
