Odishatv Bureau
Mumbai: Profit-booking ahead of the expiry of derivatives contract tomorrow coupled with weak overseas advices pulled down the the BSE benchmark sensex by 136 points to finish at 17,121.62. The market sentiment was already smashed after the apex bank kept its key interest rates unchanged in its mid-quarter policy on February 15 due to higher inflation and large fiscal deficit which was followed by disheartening Union Budget.

And now there is no any positive trigger since now for market to turn the table in favour of bulls, a broker said. Barring BSE-FMCG and BSE-HC, other 11 sectoral indices declined by 0.19 per cent to 3.32 per cent. Shares from consumer durable, Banking, PSUs, Realty, Oil&Gas and Power moved down sharply on heavy selling pressure. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday said the new tax avoidance rules are meant to check tax avoidance through complicated deals, and not directed against any particular mode of investment like participatory notes (PNs).

The BSE benchmark sensex, after resuming slightly weak, remained in negative terrain through the day before ending at 17,121.62, showing a net loss of 135.74 points or 0.79 pct. It had gained by 204.53 points or 1.20 per cent on Tuesday. The NSE 50-share index also declined by 48.40 points or 0.92 pct to finish below 5,200-mark at 5,194.75. Most of the Asian markets finished lower as investors waited for more clues on the state of the US economy. Key benchmark indices in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea finished lower between 0.10 per cent to 2.65 per cent while Taiwan`s Weighted index was up 0.11 per cent.

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