BSE Sensex ends 109 points lower on profit booking

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The 30-share benchmark index closed 109.22 points lower at 17,490.90 with 26 components ending lower. The index touched a high of 17,735.70 and a low of 17,457 during intraday trade.

The index, which hit a record high of 21,206.77 on Jan. 10 and climbed 10.5 percent in April, is down about 13.8 percent this year.

The day's top loser was Wipro, which fell 2.41 percent to Rs.490.10.

Financial stocks State Bank of India, Housing Development Finance Corporation, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank slipped 2.36 percent, 2.30 percent, 0.59 percent and 0.25 percent to Rs.1779.20, Rs.2710.05, Rs.1529.85 and Rs.933.15 respectively.

Auto majors Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki declined 1.86 percent, 0.71 percent and 0.46 percent to Rs.677.50, Rs.685.55 and Rs.784.40 respectively.

IT majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Satyam Computer Services slid 1.72 percent and 1.34 percent to Rs.924.55 and Rs.487.50 respectively.

Telecom majors Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel ended down 1.24 percent and 0.53 percent to Rs.554.25 and Rs.893.85 respectively.

While real estate major DLF declined 2.10 percent to Rs.705.05, top listed petro-refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.34 percent to Rs.2665.70.

Other major losers were Ambuja Cements (down 1.55 percent to Rs.111.15), Hindalco (down 1.29 percent to Rs.183.45), NTPC (down 1.10 percent to Rs.198.50), Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 0.68 percent to Rs.478.20), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.52 percent to Rs.248.15) and Reliance Infrastructure (down 0.42 percent to Rs.1516.70).

Th four stocks that ended higher were Cipla (up 1.43 percent to Rs.216), Tata Steel (up 0.70 percent to Rs.802.55), Grasim Industries (up 0.65 percent to Rs.2384.10) and ACC (up 0.56 percent to Rs.757.75).

Among the sectoral indices, most counters ended lower with Consumer Durables losing 2.22 percent. However, PSU, Realty, Healthcare and Metal ended higher.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended in the positive zone, climbing 0.85 percent and 0.27 percent to 7299.26 and 8845.35 respectively.

The BSE market breadth was overall positive with 1613 shares advancing, 1118 shares declining and 45 shares remaining unchanged.

The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) declined 0.69 percent to 5,192.25. The index touched a high of 5254.50 and a low of 5182.60 during intraday trade.

As most major companies had already reported their fiscal earnings, the investors were looking at foreign markets which, however, remained flattish, market analysts said.

"I think it's more because of the international markets which were kind of flattish... and Europe opened weak," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Stock Broking.

"Investor optimism is returning to the market. Foreign institutions have also started deploying money. Fourth quarter results have not been great, but they have not disappointed expectations either. So while the panic is diminishing, investors are still cautious and prefer taking profits even after a small rise," said Ajay Parmar, head of research at Emkay Share & Stock Brokers.

"There are no new triggers to take the market higher for the time being, though, pricewise, there is still room for further appreciation. The Nifty has already risen about 14 per cent from earlier lows, so there could be some correction," he added.

Elsewhere in South Asia, Pakistan's Karachi 100 and Bangladesh's Dhaka Stock Exchange slipped 1.90 percent and 0.47 percent to 14,673.13 and 3087.44, but Sri Lanka's Colombo All-share advanced 0.47 percent to 2,648.23.