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Sensex Ends 215 Points Lower, HDFC Among Top Losers

Sensex Ends 215 Points Lower, HDFC Among Top Losers

The BSE benchmark Sensex fell 215 points on the back of selling in FMCG, auto and metal stocks on expiry day of April derivative contract.

The 50-share Nifty settled below its crucial psychological level of 8,200 led by losses in Tata Motors, HDFC, ITC and Larsen & Toubro.

In the intraday deals, the Sensex fell over 300 points to fall below 27,000 levels and the Nifty fell as much as 95 points.

Continued sales by foreign portfolio investors amid fresh worries on retrospective taxes, and a delay in earnings recovery and the land acquisition bill hurt sentiment.
 
Overseas investors have sold shares worth over $1.2 billion in the last eleven sessions, excluding Daiichi Sankyo's share sale in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.

Ruchit Jain, technical analyst with Angel Broking said, Nifty has strong support near 8,150 levels from where it bounced back toady. 

"Nifty can showcase a pullback rally from here on and it can go up to 8,330-8,450 levels by next week. At higher levels we are advising our clients to create short positions as Nifty will fall once again to sub-8,150 levels. It is a sell on rise market," added Mr Jain.

Meanwhile, from the Nifty-50 basket of stocks, Idea Cellular was the top loser. The stock fell 3.3 per cent to close at Rs 175. ACC, Zee Entertainment, Ambuja Cements, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel, HDFC, Bank of Baroda, ITC and Bharti Airtel also closed 1.5-3 per cent lower on the Nifty. 

On the other hand, BHEL, Axis Bank, Lupin, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, and Cairn India were among the gainers.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index closed 0.07 per cent higher, while, the small-cap index settled marginally lower.

The Sensex finally closed 215 points lower at 27,011 and the Nifty slipped 58 points to settle at 8,181.

For the April contract, the Nifty slipped 1.9 per cent and the Sensex fell 1.6 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)