Sensex trades 288 points down; Rupee at 65.12 per dollar

Mumbai :The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading 288 points down in late morning deals on profit-booking in realty, oil&gas, IT, teck, auto, power, consumer durables, healthcare and FMCG sectors amid weak Asian markets.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative.

The BSE Sensex resumed higher at 28,093.54 and hovered in a range of 28,095.97 and 27,739.13 before quoting at 27,779.23 at 1100 hrs, a fall of 288.08 points or 1.03 per cent from its last close.

The 50-share Nifty also moved down by 68.45 points or 0.80 per cent to 8,450.10 at 1100 hrs.

Major losers were, Cipla 4.07 per cent, ONGC 2.98 per cent, Hindalco 2.14 per cent, HDFC 2.05 per cent, Vedanta 2.05 per cent, Infosys 1.94 per cent, M&M 1.80 per cent, RIL 1.55 per cent, Tata Motors 1.53 per cent and L&T 1.44 per cent.

However, SBI rose by 3.09 per cent followed by Tata Steel 1.86 per cent and Sun Pharma 1.08 per cent.

While, Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 403.76 crore during previous trading session, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In overseas markets, Asian stocks edged lower in early trade. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,Singapore and South Korea were off 0.12 per cent to 0.93 per cent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.19 per cent. The rupee dropped further by 21 paise to Rs 65.21 following sustained bouts of dollar demand from importers amid higher greenback overseas on the back of weak domestic equity market.

The domestic currency on Thursday had plummeted by 32 paise to 65.10 against the dollar, hitting its weakest level last seen in September 2013, as China further devalued yuan.

The rupee resumed lower at 65.12 per dollar as against last weekend’s level of 65.00 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It moved in a range of 65.26 and 65.12 per dollar during the morning deals before quoting at 65.21 at 1030 hrs.

The dollar index was up by 0.13 per cent at 96.73 as against a basket of six currencies in the early trade.

At the Asian trade, the dollar started the week on a firmer footing early today as traders looked to the prospects of a US rate hike next month.

Oil prices resumed their decline in early today as a global glut of crude supplies showed no signs of abating in the face of sluggish demand, analysts said.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading down by 274.35 points or 0.98 per cent to 27,792.96 at 1035 hrs.

PTI