Mumbai: Markets ended in the red for the second straight day as the benchmark BSE Sensex slipped by about 44 points to end at 25,775.74 on offloading of positions by participants amid a mixed trend in Asia and a lower opening in Europe. Besides, caution before the expiry of November series contracts in the derivatives segment on Thursday had a bearing on mood. Stock exchanges will remain closed tomorrow on account of 'Guru Nanak Jayanthi'.
Now, the Sensex has lost 92.75 points in two straight sessions. Market sentiment, which was already subdued on disappointing second quarter earnings of some blue-chip companies, took a hit further from churning of positions by investors in view of the monthly derivatives expiry slated for Thursday.
Brokers said the rolled-overs to the next month expiry would come in below recent month's expiries. Sustained foreign fund outflows too made the mood gloomy, they said. The 30-share BSE Sensex after opening in the negative zone recovered briefly mainly due to buying in realty, oil and gas, and PSU stocks.
The index finally settled down by 43.60 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 25,775.74. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty in two-way movements, ended lower by 17.65 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 7,831.60. During the session, it shuttled between 7,812.65 and 7,870.35. Among prominent Sensex losers was Maruti Suzuki (down 2.05 per cent) while L&T fell 1.94 per cent. Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, NTPC and Wipro too registered losses. Out of the 30-Sensex constituents, 22 ended lower. Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Ltd, RIL, Lupin and Bharti Airtel ended higher by up to 2.42 per cent and averted any major slide in the key indices. Sector-wise, the BSE capital goods index suffered the most by falling 1.20 per cent, followed by auto, IT, healthcare and consumer durables.
The broader markets, however, showed a better trend as the BSE small-cap index ended 0.33 per higher and the mid-cap gained 0.08 per cent. Shares of Reliance Communication soared 9.29 per cent to Rs 71.15 on speculation of positive corporate reports. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 35.37 crore yesterday, provisional data from stock exchanges showed.
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