Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex today fell by 84 points to 27,811.84 as banking stocks plunged after RBI's stress test showed that deterioration in banks' asset quality is likely to continue for a few more quarters. Sentiment was also hit after Greece failed to reach an agreement with its creditors ahead of a debt deadline, equity brokers said. However, reports that monsoon has covered the entire country, except western Rajasthan, several days before its expected date lifted market mood to some extent.
The 30-share Sensex after opening in negative zone at 26,880.72 continued to slide as selling pressure gathered momentum amid a weak overseas trend. It touched a low of 27,675.16 before winding up 84.13 points or 0.30 per cent down at 27,811.84. The index touched a high of 27,921.86 intra-day.
Also, the NSE Nifty ended 16.90 points or 0.20 per cent down at 8,381.10 after shuttling between 8,408.55 and 8,339.70 intra-day. However, both the Sensex and the Nifty indices posted their second-straight weekly gains by rising 495.67 points (1.81 pc) and 156.15 points (1.89 pc), respectively.
Reserve Bank of India's Financial Stability Report yesterday said that gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking system have grown to 4.6 per cent at the end of March this year from 4.5 per cent in September. Reacting to the news, the BSE banking index fell by 0.74 per cent. Major losers from the Sensex were ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, falling by up to 1.35 per cent. However, gains in TCS, NTPC, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Wipro, Lupin and HUL shares cushioned the fall in the indices. Out of 30-Sensex constituents, 17 stocks ended lower. Meanwhile, foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 280.21 crore yesterday. Globally, Shanghai closed 7.4 per cent down on fears that the Chinese stocks were overvalued after a year-long advance. European market was also down in their early trade.
