Investor caution brings Sensex down

Mumbai, May 6: Midsession gains got reversed with heavy selling, mainly in realty, banking and metal counters, as the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped by 178 points.
Initially, the Sensex was weak because of mixed Asian cues and due to concerns over capital-short US banks.

But it recovered later to a high of 12,272.10 from its previous close 12,131.08 in mid-afternoon on sustained buying by foreign funds. However, heavy selling in the concluding part of the day pulled it down to 11,952.75, a fall of 178.33 points or 1.47 per cent from its last close.

In the Sensex family, Jaipra Asso dipped 6.41 per cent, HDFC 5.94 per cent, DLF 5.51 per cent, Tata Steel 5.42 per cent, ICICI Bank 5.03 per cent, Sterlite Ind 5.02 per cent and Tata Motors 3.10 per cent.

However, NTPC rose 1.91 per cent, Hindalco 1.53 per cent, Tata Power 1.24 per cent and REL Infra 1.07 per cent.

The 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also declined by 36.85 points or 1.01 per cent to 3,625.05 from previous close.

Brokerage firm Unicon Financial CEO G Nagpal said: "Global markets have gone into a consolidation mode, and our market also saw some correction. Today's fall is not very significant considering the rally we witnessed in the past few sessions. From now on the FIIs would adopt a wait and watch policy as the election results are expected shortly." PTI