Sensex closes in red for the fifth day

A benchmark index for Indian equities on Tuesday slumped 1.33 per cent, closing in the red for the fifth straight day, on continued selling pressure by foreign funds.The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 15,436.12 points, ended the day at 15,175.08 points, down 204.26 points or 1.33 per cent from its previous close at 15,379.34 points. The Sensex touched a high of 15,448.13 points and low of 15,135.86 points in the intra-day trade.The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also ended in the red for the fifth straight session. The Nifty closed 1.49 per cent or 68.90 points down at 4,544.20 points.Broader markets and most of the sectoral indices also ended in the red. The BSE midcap index slumped 1.86 per cent while the BSE smallcap index closed 1.45 per cent down.There was heavy selling pressure in metal, realty, consumer goods, power and oil and gas stocks. The metal and the consumer goods indices of the BSE slumped almost 3.5 per cent. Realty index fell 2.71 per cent and the power index closed 2.59 per cent down.Engineering and construction conglomerate Larsen and Toubro, which has been facing a slowdown in new orders as companies put off investment in large projects, was among the big losers. Industrial output in India fell for the first time in two years in October, shrinking 5.1 per cent, and the central bank held interest rates unchanged last week after 13 rounds of increases since early 2010.   Pushed to a corner by a series of corruption scandals, the ruling coalition has been unable to reach a consensus on policy decisions that are needed to lift investment and growth.“It is tough to find many optimists willing to bet their money on Indian equities at the moment,” brokerage IIFL said in a research note on Tuesday. Energy major Reliance Industries, which has about 10 per cent weight on the main index, fell 3 per cent and Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest mobile operator, shed 3.9 per cent. Tata Steel, the world’s seventh biggest steelmaker, dropped 5.7 per cent, while Jindal Steel and Power fell 3.8 per cent.A Reliance spokesman said the company was not interested in buying a stake in Network 18. Foreign funds have pulled out a net $300 million from Indian shares this year till last on Friday, after ploughing in a record of more than $29 billion in 2010.