Business

Surge in crude drags Sensex

MUMBAI: Markets remained under selling pressure for the second day on Thursday with the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex falling by over 248 points to its lowest in about a month, primarily on sharp losses seen by market leader Reliance. The BSE 30-share Sensex settled the day at 14048.34, a fall of 248.45 points against its previous close.

The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange lost 78.10 points to close at 4214.00. While Reliance Industries fell by 3.45 per cent, the biggest loser of the day was Hindalco which was down by a hefty 12.6 per cent.

All sectoral indices saw marked falls on across the board selling pressure.

Marketmen said a sharp rise in global crude oil prices to nearly $119 a barrel in Asian trade added to worries of inflation pinching harder.

Nearly a two-dollar rise in oil prices pulled down Asian and European markets into the red in late afternoon trade which also impacted the domestic bourses negatively.

Ahead of the release of latest data on inflation, there were wide anticipations in the market that the rate of price rise would touch 13 per cent, weighing heavily on trading sentiment.

The rupee lost 4 paise against the dollar on Thursday to close at 43.78/79 against its previous close of 43.74/75.

At the inter-bank foreign exchange market the rupee opened higher at 43.70/72 and witnessed volatile movements on alternate bouts of buying and selling. However, it turned weak and closed at 43.74/75 due to a sharp rise in global crude oil prices and stepped up dollar demand from oil refiners for their monthly import payments. — PTI

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