Indian Bourses continue downward journey

Mumbai, April 19: Following the world stock market trends Indian equity market also continued its downward journey and closed weak for a fifth consecutive session on Tuesday as the BSE Sensex tanked 703.59 points to settle at 56,463.15 on heavy selling in IT, power, realty and technology stocks amid weak global cues. The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too fell 215 points at 16,958.65. High volatility was witnessed during the session as the BSE Sensex jumped 215 points to open at 57,381.77. It advanced 298 points at 57,464.04, the day’s high. Later, it tumbled down nearly 1,157 points at 56,009.07, the day’s low, before closing at 56,463.15, sliding 703.59 points from its previous close. The Sensex registered the day’s high and low at 57,464.08 and 56,009.07 points respectively. The Nifty recorded the day’s high and low at 17,275.65 and 16,824.70 respectively. Sectoral indices like IT, utilities, power, realty and technology stocks kept the market under pressure for another day on Tuesday. In scripts, HDFC was a major loser, down 5.50 per cent to Rs 2,138.65 followed by HDFC Bank by 3.73 per cent to Rs 1,343.30, Infosys by 3.55 per cent to Rs 1,563.95, ITC by 3.35 per cent to Rs 261.45 and Tech Mahindra by 3.17 per cent to Rs 1,301.60. The gainers were Reliance Industries by 3.71 per cent to Rs 2,638.45, ICICI Bank by 1.04 per cent to Rs 766.65 and SBI by 0.44 per cent to Rs 511.65. The Mid Cap declined by 1.20 per cent and the SmallCap by 1.21 per cent. In 30 scrips, 4 advanced while 26 declined. European stocks were seen under pressure following the latest developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slid 0.8 per cent. (UNI)