Sensex tanks 206 points

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets yesterday tanked 206 points as traders exited open positions on the last day of the July F&O (futures and options) series, and from sustained selling in realty and capital goods stocks. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,887.84 points, closed at 16,639.82 points, 1.22% or 206.23 points down from its previous day’s close at 16,846.05 points. The BSE realty index was down 50.08 points, followed by capital goods index, down 194.52 points. The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 1.30% down at 5,043 points. The main losers were Tata Motors, down 3.80% at Rs204.85; Tata Power, down 2.91% at Rs93.45; Sterlite Inds, down 2.64% at Rs97.75; Wipro, down 2.64% at Rs330.0; and SBI, down 2.58% at Rs2,017.15. The major Sensex gainers were Sun Pharma, up 2.32% at Rs624; Bajaj Auto, up 1.37% at Rs1,583.10; NTPC, up 1.03% at Rs151.55; Gail India, up 0.77% at Rs346.70; and Maruti Suzuki, up 0.44% at Rs1,107.85. Other Asian markets witnessed mixed trading. Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.92% up, while Shanghai’s composite index fell 0.48%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.08%. At closing bell here, European markets were in the green. France’s CAC was up 2.27% and so was Germany’s DAX, up 1.43%. Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 1.12% higher. State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) yesterday posted a 13% increase in net profit at Rs921 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against Rs815.5 crore during the like period of the previous financial year. The total income stood at Rs8,805.3 crore for the quarter under review against Rs7,560.5 crore during the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company has an order book position of Rs1,33,000 crore. from gulf times.