Sensex drops 236 pts

Mumbai, May 24 (Agency) The BSE Sensex on Tuesday lost further 236 pts to settle at 54,052.61 on heavy selling in IT, Utilities, Power and Technology stocks. The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) too slipped 89.55 pts at 16,125.15. See-saw trend was witnessed during the day, as the Sensex rose marginally up 19 pts to open at 54,307.56. It advanced 236 pts to 54,524.37, days high. Later, it dropped nearly 402 pts to 53,886.28, days low, before closing at 54,052.61, sliding by 236 pts from its previous close. The Sensex registered days high and low at 54,524.37 and 53,886.28 pts respectively.

The Nifty recorded days high and low at 16,262.80 and 16,078.60 respectively. The sectoral indices like IT, Utilities, Power and Technology dragged the market today. In scrips, Tech Mahindra was a major loser down by 3.88 pc to Rs 1098.50 followed by Hind Unilever by 2.98 pc to Rs 2309.05, HCL Technology by 2.43 pc to Rs 993.40, Asian Paints by 2.33 pc to Rs 3100 and NTPC by 2.16 pc to Rs 146.90. The gainers were Dr Reddy’s lab by 1.93 pc to Rs 4356.60, HDFC by 1.74 pc to Rs 2210, Kotak Bank by 1.35 pc to Rs 1880.35 and HDFC Bank by 1.23 pc to Rs 1318.95. The Mid Cap declined by 0.85 pc and Small Cap by 1.14 pc. In 30 scrips, 10 advanced while 20 declined. Asian Market remained weak today as Australia by 0.35 pc, China by 2.41 pc, Hong Kong by 1.75 pc, Japan by 0.94 pc and Taiwan by 1.19 pc.