In a roller-coaster ride, the BSEbenchmark Sensex on Thursday surrendered nearly 200-point gainto end over 91 points down at four-month low levels onemergence of fag-end selling triggered by weak Europeanmarkets amid continuing worries over the country's politicalstability.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share barometerresumed better on firm Asian trends after announcement ofimprovement in China's manufacturing data and US Fed indicateda return to moderate economic growth. It then hit intra-dayhigh of 19,082.29.
However, the pull-back proved to be short-lived asoffloading after mid-session on weak European markets pushedthe Sensex down by 91.32 points or 0.48 per cent to end at18,792.87, a level not seen since November 26, 2012 when ithad closed at 18,537.01. Thursday is the fifth day of lossesfor Sensex and the index has lost over 777 points in thisphase.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) 50-issue CNX Nifty onThursday lost 35.65 points or 0.63 per cent to end atfour-month low of 5,658.75.
Shares from realty, power, capital goods, PSU, refineryand metal segments continued their southward march.
Fall in Sensex-based stocks like HDFC Bank, L&T, TataMotors, RIL, ITC, Bajaj Auto, HUL, Tata Power, Tata Steel,ONGC and Maruti Suzuki mainly contributed to the fall.
Brokers said trading sentiment turned bearish ever sinceDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) withdrew its support to theruling UPA government, raising concerns that economic reformspace might get derailed.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday carriedout raids at the residence of DMK chief M Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin, two days after the party pulled out of UPA. "Concernover economic and political health of the country has revivedworries and selling is seen on rallies," said Nidhi Saraswat,Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio Limited.
While Asian stocks were mixed, Europe was trading lowerin early deals on persistent worries over Cyprus and alsosurprise fall in German manufacturing data. France's CAC wasdown by 1.07 per cent, followed by Germany's DAX (0.76 pc) andthe UK's FTSE (0.64 pc).
A sharp rise in ICICI Bank, HDFC and Bharti Airtel limited the Indian benchmark indices downslide to a majorextent, brokers said.
"Given the domestic political uncertainty, Cyprus crisisand next week being a truncated one on account of Holi andGood Friday, market may enter into a consolidation phase,"said Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.
19 Sensex components closed with losses while 11 finishedhigher. Bajaj Auto was the top loser with a fall of 4.61 percent, followed by Tata Motors (4.22 pc), Tata Power (4.06 pc),HDFC Bank (3.14 pc), L&T (2.85 pc), Maruti Suzuki (2.45 pc),Hindalco (2.43 pc), Tata Steel (2.15 pc), HUL (1.90 pc), HeroMotoCorp (1.81 pc), Dr Reddy's(1.77 pc), Cipla (1.59 pc), BHEL(1.29 pc), RIL (1.09 pc), ONGC (0.95 pc) and ITC (0.80 pc).
However, recently battered Bharti Airtel shot up by 5.99per cent. ICICI Bank was also up by 3.35 per cent, followed byHDFC (2.09 pc), Jindal Steel (1.02 pc) and Wipro (0.99 pc).
Outside benchmark indices, shares of Manappuram Financeafter a few sessions of drubbing ended over 1 per cent higher.
Among sectoral indices, S&P BSE-Realty dropped by 2.91per cent, followed by S&P BSE-Power (2.38 pc), S&P BSE-CG(2.30 pc), S&P BSE-Auto (2.23 pc), S&P BSE-PSU (1.19 pc) andS&P BSE-Oil&Gas (1.18 pc).
The total market breadth remained negative as 1,926stocks closed with losses while 942 that finished with gains.
Total market turnover rose to Rs 2,488.48 crore from Rs2,175.56 crore on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulled out Rs236.72 crore Wednesday, as per provisional data with stockexchanges.