Indian equities fall as oil price climbs on Libya, Middle East crisis (Roundup)

March 21st, 2011 - 7:22 pm ICT by IANS  

Sensex Mumbai, March 21 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets ended in the red in a choppy session Monday, as rise in crude oil prices amid escalating crisis in Libya and the Middle East dampened investor-sentiment.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened with a gain of 106 points at 17,984.72 points, ended the day at 17,839.05 points, down 0.22 percent or 39.76 points from the previous close of 17,878.81 points.

Amid choppy trading, the benchmark Sensex touched a high of 18,007.73 points and low of 17,792.17 points in the intra-day.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P; CNX Nifty also ended in the red. It closed 0.17 percent or 8.95 points down at 5,364.75 points.

London-traded Brent crude oil price rose almost two percent at $116.22 a barrel Monday on concerns that escalating turmoil in Libya and the Middle East may disrupt supply.

Of the broader market indices, the BSE midcap closed 0.27 percent down at 6,492.30 points and the BSE smallcap fell 0.29 percent at 7,775.36 points.

Most sectoral indices also closed in the red with realty index losing nearly one percent. The BSE IT index fell 0.73 percent. Technology, consumer durables, power and auto indices also ended in the red.

Hindalco Industries slumped 3.12 percent at Rs.191.10. Hero Honda fell nearly three percent at Rs.1,433.75.

Maruti Suzuki, down 2.33 percent at Rs.1,131.35; Cipla, down 2.11 percent at Rs.287.60; Wipro, down 1.90 percent at Rs.431; Reliance Communication, down 1.53 percent at Rs.102.90; and Hindustan Unilever, 0.97 percent down at Rs.265.90 were other major losers on the Sensex.

Major gainers on the Sensex were: Jindal Steel, up 1.95 percent at Rs.662.45; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 1.39 percent at Rs.641.75; Sterlite Inds, up 1.07 percent at Rs.159.90; and HDFC, up 0.92 percent at Rs.626.65.

Most Asian markets ended in the positive with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbing 1.73 percent at 22,685.20 and China’s Shanghai Composite closing 0.08 percent higher at 2,909.14 points.

European markets opened with decent gains. Around mid-day, the French CAC 40 was trading 1.91 percent higher, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1.23 percent and the German DAX was ruling 2.08 percent higher.

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