Snapping a five-day winning streak, a benchmark index for Indian equities markets Monday closed 50.86 points lower after rating agency Standard & Poor’s said India could lose its investment grade status due to worsening economic fundamentals.
Amid volatile trade, the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,804.89 points, closed at 16,668.01 points — down 0.30 percent or 50.86 points from its previous close of 16,718.87 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 16,893.81 points intra-day. The midcap index of the BSE fell 11.73 points, while smallcap index closed 13.63 points up.
The wider 50-scrip S&P; CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 0.28 percent lower at 5,054.10 points.
The capital goods index was down 155.88 points followed by the health care index, down 89.18 points, and the realty index, down 16.86 points.
Cipla was the top loser at the Sensex. It was down 2.25 percent at Rs.302.25.
Other main losers were BHEL, down 2.21 percent at Rs.216.35; Larsen and Toubro, down 1.99 percent at Rs.1,283; Jindal Steel, down 1.93 percent at Rs.431.60; Tata Motors, down 1.40 percent at Rs.235.55; and Hero MotoCorp, down 1.36 percent at Rs.1,978.
The major Sensex gainers were Tata Power, up 2.18 percent at Rs.96.20; Bajaj Auto, up 1.85 percent at Rs.1,557; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.58 percent at Rs.435.10; Gail India, up 1.55 percent at Rs.336.85; and Coal India up 1.44 percent at Rs.331.30.
European markets were trading higher after the bailout of Spain’s banks. At the closing bell here, France’s CAC was 0.96 percent up, while Germany’s DAX was trading 1.64 percent higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 was also up 0.64 percent.
