Mumbai, Oct 21 (IANS) A key Indian equity index shut shop 1.24 percent in the red Wednesday as selling pressure intensified during the last minutes of trade.
The 30-scrip sensitive index, Sensex, of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,229.72 points, closed at 17,009.17 points — down 213.84 points or 1.24 percent from Tuesday’s close.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, closed in the red at 5,063.6 points, down 0.99 percent.

The selling pressure was prevalent in mid-sized capitalised company scrips as well with the BSE midcap index ending 1.07 percent lower. The BSE smallcap index closed with marginal gains.

The market breadth was negative, with 1,178 stocks advancing, 1,564 declining and 93 remaining unchanged.

Among the gainers on the Sensex were TCS, up 1.94 percent at Rs.633.45; Tata Power, up 1.57 percent at Rs.1,435.95; Bharti Airtel, up 1.22 percent at Rs.332.60 and DLF, up 0.71 percent at Rs.472.

Among the losers were Tata Steel, down 3.96 percent at Rs.552.45; Jaiprakash Assoicates, down 3.56 percent at Rs.255.70; SBI, down 3.24 percent at Rs.2,385.30, and HDFC, down 3.07 percent at Rs.2,692.20.

Profit-taking hit other Asian markets as well.

The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 3.45 points or 0.03 percent lower at 10,333.39 points.

The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, ended 0.3 percent lower at 22,318.11 points.

At the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the composite index was ruling 0.45 percent down at 3,070.59 points.

The Kospi, benchmark index of the Korean Stock Exchange, was also in the red at 1,653.86 points, down 0.32 percent.

Trading at European markets started on an uncertain note and soon selling kicked in with key indices like the FTSE 100 index in Britain ruling 0.93 percent lower at 5,194.46 points and its French peer, the CAC 40, down 1.17 percent at 3,826.2 points.

Germany’s DAX was ruling at 5,761.99 points, down 0.86 percent.