Erasing early gains, Sensex closes 45 pts down

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Erasing initial gains, the Bombay
Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday fell nearly 45
points on emergence of profit-booking amid weak market
openings in the European region.
The Sensex, which had climbed to 20,190.13 at the outset,
fell back to close with a loss of 44.73 points at 20,028.93
with stocks of metal, realty and power sectors suffering fresh
losses.
However, the downtrend was capped following a rise in
shares of healthcare, IT and consumer durables as investors
shifted to fundamentally stronger sectors ahead of restricted
participation by foreign funds due to year-end holidays.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell
by 13.50 points to 5,998.10, after touching the day's high of
6,045.75.
Besides profit selling, a weak opening in European
markets this afternoon further influenced the softening trend.
European stocks fell, trimming the longest stretch of weekly
gains since April, and US index futures dropped as well.
Thin presence of major global market players due to the
year-end holidays mainly affected the trading sentiment and
reduced business volumes.
The metal sector index suffered the most by losing 1.24
per cent to 17,059.88 on reduced offtake as investors were of
the view that China will tighten monetary policy in 2011 to
tackle inflation, reducing demand for commodities.
The Realty sector index lost 0.82 per cent to 2,742.16
followed by Power index by 0.35 per cent to 2,922.97. The FMCG
index lost 0.30 per cent to 3,574.42.
The downtrend was cushioned as IT sector rose on hopes
that tech demand will increase as the US economic recovery
gathers pace. The IT index rose by 0.25 per cent to 6,711.10
as Infosys Technologies gained for the fourth straight session
by adding Rs 10.25 to Rs 3,378.75.
Investors are looking for low valuation stocks till the
market takes a new direction on allocation of funds by foreign
investors. The smallcap sector index gained 0.21 per cent to
9,374.21, while midcap index ended moderately lower by 0.17
per cent to 7,614.03.