Fund outflows, rupee depreciation dent equity indices (Second Lead)

Mumbai, May 23 (IANS) Persistent outflow of foreign funds along with weak global cues and a depreciation in the rupee plunged the key Indian equity indices on Wednesday.

According to market observers, heavy selling pressure was witnessed in metal, oil and gas and auto stocks.

At 3.30 p.m., the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) provisionally closed at 10,430.35 points, down 106.35 points or 1.01 per cent from the previous close of 10,536.70 points.

Similarly, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE tumbled nearly 1 per cent as trade closed for the day. It had opened at 34,656.63 points, closed at 34,344.91 points (3.30 p.m.) -- down 306.33 points or 0.88 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 34,651.24 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 34,668.47 points and a low of 34,302.89 points. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,540 declines and 1,115 advances.

The major gainers on the BSE were State Bank of India (SBI), Larsen and Toubro, NTPC, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma while Tata Steel, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's Lab, Adani Ports and ITC were the major losers.

On the NSE, the top gainers were SBI, Cipla and Tech Mahindra. The major losers were Hindustan Petroleum, Vedanta and Tata Steel.