Mumbai, January 08: The rupee spooked the markets for the second straight day today with the Sensex falling by another 75 points on sustained selling in the IT counters, ignoring some pep talk by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
After a 32-point gap-up opening, the BSE benchmark index ended lower by 75.43 points or 0.43 per cent at 17,540.29.
Similarly, the broader 50-share Nifty of the NSE moved down further by 18.35 points or 0.35 per cent to 5,244.75, breaking the psychological 5,250-mark, after opening nine points up on positive Asian cues.
The IT counters remained under heavy selling pressure on the back of the rising rupee as investors continued to worry about the bottomlines of the IT majors who earn nearly half of their revenues in dollars. The rupee has gained 1.7 per cent against the dollar this year.
–Agencies