Sensex plunges 523 points on profit taking in banking & metal stocks

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex plunged by 523 points on Monday due to profit taking in metal and banking shares amid mixed trends in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 523 points or 0.73 per cent lower at 71,072.49 as 22 of its components closed in the red and eight in the green. The barometer opened higher and touched a high of 71,756.58 in early trade.

However, profit taking in Reliance Industries, metal giants and banking shares dragged the index to a low of 70,922.57 during intra-day trade.

The broader NSE Nifty also closed 166.45 points or 0.76 per cent lower at 21,616.05 with 34 of its constituents ending in the red.

Metal, banking and select oil shares succumbed to selling while pharma and IT shares bucked the trend.

In the Sensex pack, Tata Steel fell the most by 2.76 per cent, followed by NTPC (2.72 per cent) and SBI (2.26 per cent). Private banks IndusInd, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also declined.

In contrast, Wipro, HCL Tech, Mahindra & Mahindra and Nestle were among the nine Sensex stocks that defied the trend.

BSE smallcap index fell 3.16 per cent while midcap lost 2.62 per cent and largecap closed 0.90 per cent lower.

Among the sectoral indices, utilities saw a steepest fall of 3.60 per cent, followed by realty which declined by 3.01 per cent and power that went down by 2.90 per cent.

Industrials fell 2.92 per cent and energy slid 2.80 per cent, while metal declined by 2.73 per cent and oil & gas by 2.56 per cent.

Capital goods, commodities, bankex and financial services were other laggards.

In the broader market, NHPC dropped 15.81 per cent after it reported a 19 per cent decline in profit for the December quarter. Another power PSU SJVN dropped 20 per cent to hit the lower circuit on BSE.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.50 per cent to $81.78 a barrel on Monday. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 141.95 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.