A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Wednesday closed the trade 137.30 points or 0.54 percent lower on heavy selling in automobile, capital goods, and information technology (IT) scrips.The markets turned cautious ahead of the budget even as the economic Survey, tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, forecast a 5.4-5.9 percent growth.The annual report card on the state of the country's economy, however, said price rise remained a cause for worry.The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,615.28 points, closed trade at 25,444.81 points, down 137.30 points or 0.54 percent from the previous day's close at 25,582.11 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 25,683.97 points and a low of 25,364.77 points intra-day.The S&P BSE automobile index tanked by 385.13 points, capital goods index dropped by 233.48 points, healthcare index dipped by 169.37 points, IT index went down by 124.26 points and bankex lost 86.16 points.However, the oil and gas index was up 90.43 points followed by fast moving consumer durables (FMCG) index which gained 55.09 points.The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 38.20 points or 0.50 percent down at 7,585 points, its lowest mark since June 30.
The major Sensex gainers were: ONGC, up 1.77 percent at Rs.404.65, ITC, up 1.67 percent at Rs.341.40, Gail India, up 1.26 percent at Rs.458.60, Hindalco Inds, up 1.21 percent Rs.170.90 and Tata Steel, up 0.78 percent at Rs.517.30.The losers were: Bajaj Auto, down 3.12 percent at Rs.2,168.95; Coal India, down 2.97 percent at Rs.365.65; Maruti Suzuki, down 2.70 percent at Rs.2,519.95, Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.54 percent at Rs.1,181.90 and Tata Power, down 2.47 percent at Rs.102.85.Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.08 percent down and Hong Kong's Heng Seng ended up 1.55 percent lower, while China's Shanghai Composite Index went 1.23 percent up.In Europe, London's FTSE 100 and the French CAC 40 were trading lower at the closing bell here. But Germany's DAX Index was up 0.11 percent.