Sensex halts 3-day winning run, ends below 35,000 mark; Re depreciates 45 paise

Mumbai: Stocks took a breather today after three sessions of gains, with the Sensex slipping below the key 35,000-level due to a heavy selling mainly in banking and healthcare counters amid unabated foreign fund outflows and subdued global cues. Moreover, fresh weakness in the rupee against the dollar too aggravated the woes. The BSE Sensex, after opening higher at 35,213.14, advanced to hit a high of 35,234.14 on buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) as well as retail participants. [caption id=“attachment_4335823” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. Getty images[/caption] However, investors preferred to lock in gains towards the middle of the session, with the benchmark finally ending at 34,949.24, down 216.24 points, or 0.61 percent. It touched a low of 34,922.18. The gauge had risen 820.57 points in the previous three sessions. Likewise, the 50-stock NSE Nifty finished 55.35 points, or 0.52 percent, down at 10,633.30 after hitting the day’s high of 10,717.25 and a low of 10,616.10. Despite a strong start to trade, key benchmark indices retreated sharply from their higher levels following bouts of profit-taking amid fresh weakness in the rupee against the dollar. The rupee depreciated 45 paise to 67.87 against the US dollar on fresh demand for the greenback from importers and banks.