Sensex ends 108 pts lower in 4th straight session fall; ITC tanks over 6%

Domestic equities continued their downward spiral on Monday, extending losses for the fourth straight session in yet another range-bound session even as the sharp recovery in other Asian and European markets failed to lift the market sentiment here. [caption id=“attachment_2536184” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Lack of clarity on the passage of the crucial GST bill continued to keep investors on the sidelines, leading to selective selling pressure in particular sectors, said stock market participants. Traders cut back their positions in FMCG, energy and automobile shares, dragging down the index to the day’s low of 25,477.69, down 160 points. The 30-share BSE S&P Sensex wrapped up the session at 25,530.11, down 108 points, or 0.4 percent from previous close. Including today’s retreat, the Sensex has shed 639 points in four trading session. The broader 50-stock CNX Nifty closed at 7,765.40, down 16.50 points, or 0.2 percent. Despite the sudued mood, market breadth ended on a positive note with 1,447 stocks advancing against 1,316 declines on BSE. While most of the second-rung non-sectoral indices ended weak, BSE Small-cap index overcame the sluggish mood to end nearly 0.2 percent higher. Other Asian gauges such as Japan’s Nikkei rose 1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite ended 0.3 percent higher even as Hang Seng fell 0.1 percent. All the three key European indices were upbeat with gains over 1-2 percent in mid-day trades amid firm Wall Street on friday and weaker Euro today. Among the laggards in the Sensex space, FMCG major ITC fell the most, ending 6.6 percent lower. Coal India dropped 2.2 percent to Rs 327.55, ONGC eased 1.5 percent to Rs 224.10, Reliance Industries eased 1.2 percent to Rs 953.70, Maruti lost 0.9 percent to Rs 4,564.35 and Bajaj Auto was down 0.8 percent at Rs 2,449.