Mumbai, May 30 (FN Agency) Investors’ anxiety ahead of next week’s election results and escalating tensions in West Asia took its toll on the stock market, which fell for the fourth consecutive day amidst profit booking and nervousness as the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 617.30 points to close at 73885.60. Most heavyweights, including Reliance Industries (RIL), TCS, L&T, and others, ended in the red zone, while banking stocks were in demand throughout the day.
The NSE Index, or Nifty, also fell below the 22500 mark and closed 216 points down at 22488.65 from the previous close. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continue to sell in the cash segment, as they sold equities worth Rs 5,842 crore in the last trading session, according to data available. While the domestic institutional investors bought to the tune of Rs 5,234 crore. Market experts are also advising caution to small investors ahead of the election results, as large-scale profit booking and heightened volatility in the coming sessions may drag the market down further.
Major losers in today’s session (Nifty) were RIL by 1.11 percent at Rs 2849.70, TCS down 1.78 percent at Rs 3736.10, Infy down 1.62 percent at Rs 1427.45, and Bajaj Finance down 2.80 percent at Rs 6616.45, among others. Major gainers were HDFC Bank, up 0.43 percent at Rs 1514.85, and ICICI Bank, up 1.06 percent at Rs 1113.70. Other banking shares and Airtel ended in green. Earlier during the day, the BSE Sensex touched the day’s high of 74493.55 and the day’s low of 73668.73 before settling at 73885.60, down more than 617 points. Similarly, the NSE Nifty also saw a high of 22705 and a low of 22417 during intra-day trading.