Mumbai, June 08:The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday suffered the third-biggest fall of the year and ended below the 15,000 level by losing nearly 438 points on weak Asian and European trends, as investors booked profits on an 88 percent rally since early March.
The Sensex, after completing 13 successive weeks of gains, suffered a loss of 437.63 points to 14,665.92 as metal, banking and realty stocks suffered hefty losses. The fall was the third-highest after those of January 7 and March 30.
In a similar fashion, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 157.00 points to 4,429.90, breaking a psychological 4,600 level.
Only information technology stocks were in positive territory following a firming dollar, raising hopes of better revenue. Over 50 percent of the country’s software export revenue comes from the US markets.
Marketmen said the steep rise of 88 percent in the market was overdone and attracted profit-selling by funds and retail investors.
They said the selling was more confined to sectors which had recorded handsome gains in recent times.
The major puller to the market were heavy-weight stocks like Sterlite Industries, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infra, Jaiprakash Associates, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India.
—Agencies