Mumbai: Hit by consistent foreign fund outflows, the benchmark BSE Sensex Monday dived by 261 points to end the day at 27,176.99 to a fresh three-and-a-half months low on tax worries and lower-than-expected fourth quarter earnings by corporates so far.
The market has fallen in eight of the last ten trading sessions and has wiped out a total Rs 7.73 lakh crore investors' wealth since April 15.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 775.46 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.
"In absence of positive triggers, the bias was subdued from the beginning. Besides, cautiousness at the start of F&O expiry week and not so encouraging earnings from corporate also weighed on the sentiment," said Jayan Manglik, President-retail distribution at Religare Securities.
Sentiment remained largely weak on continued capital outflows by foreign investor over taxation worries, traders said.
However, Maruti Suzuki, country's largest carmaker, which reported a 60.5 percent jump in its net profit at Rs 1,284.2 crore for the fourth quarter surged 3.02 percent to Rs 3,646.70 at the BSE, capping the losses to some extent.
The 30-share index opened higher and rose over 129 points to touch the day's high of 27,567.28 in early trade on the back of value-buying and positive cues from other Asian markets, but on emergence of profit-booking, it dipped to the session's low of 27,141.55.
The gauge finally settled the day lower by 260.95 points or 0.95 percent at 27,176.99, its lowest closing since January 7, when it closed at 26,908.82 points.
Sensex has lost 713.14 points in last three sessions.
Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty end below 8,300-mark by falling 91.45 points or 1.10 percent to close at 8,213.80 after moving between 8,334.45 and 8,202.35 intraday.
Bharti Airtel was the worst performer on the Sensex with 3.11 percent slide, followed by SBI falling 3.08 percent, while BHEL lost 2.87 percent.
ICICI Bank ended 1.85 percent lower even after company posted 10.2 percent growth in its net profit at Rs 2,922 crore in fourth quarter.
All 12 sectoral indices closed in the red between 0.08 percent and 3.96 percent with realty, healthcare, Oil&Gas, consumer durable, FMCG, Bankex and consumer goods taking lead in the downslide.
The monsoon will now determine country's inflation path and affect the central bank's decision on interest rate cycle.
"The F&O expiry (30th April) and US Fed meet on 28-29th April are concerning the markets. While no rate hike is expected, markets would be cautious on the policy statement. In the meantime, Budget session could provide some support, as key bills like GST will be discussed this week," said Vinod Nair, Head-Fundamental Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
The broader market segment underperformed the Sensex with midcap and smallcap indices dropping by 2.1 percent and 2.85 percent, respectively.
Of 30 Sensex stocks, 23 closed with losses, HDFC Bank held stable.
Major losers on the Sensex included, Bharti Airtel 3.11 percent, SBI 3.08 percent, Dr Reddy's Lab 3.01 percent, BHEL 2.87 percent, HDFC 2.64 percent, HUL 2.48 percent, Sun Pharma 2.22 percent and GAIL 2.10 percent.
However, SSLT rose by 2.37 percent, followed by Wipro 1.91 percent and Coal India 0.41 percent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices realty dropped by 3.96 percent, followed by healthcare 3.21 percent, oil&gas 2.48 percent, consumer durables 2.17 percent, FMCG 1.73 percent and bankex 1.33 percent, power 1.27 percent and consumer goods 1.25 percent.
The market breadth remained negative as 2,063 counters ended in the red, while 664 settled in the green and 87 held stable. The total turnover fell to Rs 3,199.17 crore from Rs 3,663.64 crore on last Friday.
