Sensex falls 111 points on weak global cues

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) Indian equities markets benchmark indices closed in the red for the first time in four sessions Wednesday as some investors booked profit due to weak cues from global peers ahead of a long weekend.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the red at 17,553.26 points, closed at 17,486.02 points, down 0.63 percent or 111.40 points from its previous close at 17,597.42 points.

The Sensex touched a low of 17,436.60 points and high of 17,553.26 points in the intra-day.

At the National Stock Exchange, the 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty also closed in the red after three days of rally. The Nifty declined 0.66 percent to close at 5,322.90 points.

Indian bourses will remain closed Thursday and Friday for holidays. The markets will reopen Monday.

After three day of rally, profit booking was across the board.

Most sectoral indices closed in the red. The BSE realty index fell 1.35 percent, the metal index closed 1.02 percent down and the banking index declined 0.75 percent.

Major Sensex losers were: Jindal Steel, down 3.15 percent at Rs.525.90; Gail India, down 2.80 percent at Rs.371.35; Bharti Airtel, down 1.99 percent at Rs.330; Sterlite Inds, down 1.99 percent at Rs.110.60 and ICICI Bank, down 1.88 percent at Rs.890.45.

Only seven of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the positive. BHEL, up 3.54 percent at Rs.273.55; Hindalco Inds, up 0.99 percent at Rs.133.10; Maruti Suzuki, up 0.75 percent at Rs.1,318.35 and ONGC, up 0.29 percent at Rs.273.40 were among the prominent Sensex gainers.

Major global markets fell after the US Federal Reserve's said it was unlikely to more stimulus in near-term to revive economic growth.

Japan's Nikkei fell 2.29 percent to 9,819.99 points. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 1.31 percent higher at 20,790.98 points and China's Shanghai composite index rose 0.48 percent to 2,454.90 points.

European markets were trading in the red. Britain's FTSE 100 index was ruling 1.08 percent down at 5,775.13 points. German DAX was down 1.66 percent at 6,866.10 points.

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