Sensex cuts short 3-day rally; closes 45 points lower

Mumbai, Dec 22 (PTI) Erasing early gains, the Bombay
Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell by nearly 45
points as investors booked profits after a three-day rally
amid weak global cues.
The 30-share index, which had gained 410 points in last
three sessions, closed lower by 44.52 at 20,015.80 points led
by fall in market leader Reliance Industries.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost
16.25 points to settle at 5,984.40 points, after moving
between 5,958 and 6,023.80 points.
The early upsurge was snapped as Reliance Industries, the
heaviest on the Sensex, fell by Rs 14.40 to Rs 1,057.05 and
Maruti Suzuki, the biggest carmaker, lost Rs 30.20 to Rs
1,398.75.
A mixed trend in the Asian region and a lower opening in
Europe on low participations of the foreign funds ahead of
the year-end holidays further influenced the market sentiment.
In the 30-BSE index components, 15 stocks closed with
gains and 14 ended in negative zone, while Hindustan Unilever
remained unchanged.
The oil and gas sector index suffered the most by losing
0.71 per cent to 10,655.01 followed by capital goods index by
0.61 per cent to 15,227 points.
The banking sector index lost 0.55 per cent to 13,005.89
and consumer durable index by 0.47 per cent to 6,065.52.
As the buying interest seen shifting to low level
investments, the small-cap index rose by 0.30 per cent to
9,337.11 and the mid-cap index by 0.10 per cent to 7,625.65
points. PTI