Fresh Greece worry breaks Sensex's eight session winning spree

The eight-session long rally finally came to an abrupt end on Wednesday, as bulls, after showing signs of stress in yesterday’s trade, lost steam towards the final stages of the session following news that international lenders dismissed Greece’s latest proposal to avoid debt default. [caption id=“attachment_2310646” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] As European markets began to recede from their firm opening, key domestic benchmark indices soon followed suit after sailing in positive territory for better part of the trading session. The last hour profit-taking resulted in the Sensex shedding all its gains and hitting the day’s low of 27,647.29, down 157 points. The 30-share BSE S&P Sensex finally ended at 27,729.67, down 74.70 points, or 0.3 percent lower from its previous close. In the last eight sessions, the Sensex gained 1,433 points mainly on the back of value buying in several stocks after the strong onset of monsoon in several part of the country lifted the sentiment. In the initial trades today, the Sensex maintained its upward momentum and looked on course of extending the rally for the ninth straight session while inching close towards the crucial 28,000-mark. However, the index fell well short of the mark to touch the day’s high of 27,948.24, up 144 points. Market breadth ended marginally weak with 1,496 stocks declining against 1,222 scrips advancing on BSE. With the crucial decision over the Greece loan default issue expected in next few days, the latest development to turn down the Greece proposal by the creditors could weigh on the minds of investors, said dealers. Investors back home fearing the total rout trimmed their position in metal, realty, capital goods and automobile shares. Among the laggards in the Sensex pack, Hindalco dropped 3.7 percent to Rs 117.15, Tata Steel lost 3 percent to Rs 304.10, M&M declined 2.3 percent to Rs 1,303.35, SBI fell 1.9 percent to Rs 262.50 and NTPC was down 1.6 percent at Rs 136.85. Other losers such as Cipla eased 1.3 percent to Rs 621.70, Gail shed 1.2 percent to Rs 398.80 and Bharti Airtel was down 1.2 percent at Rs 424.40. Several mid-cap stocks, too, lost heavily in volatile trade. Shares of Sun Tv crashed nearly 9 percent to Rs 293.10, JP Associates plunged 6 percent to Rs 11.75, Union Bank of India fell 4.5 percent to Rs 152 and United Phosphorus was down 3.5 percent at Rs 538.75.