Bears growl! Sensex falls 885 points, investors lose over Rs 4 lakh crore

Mumbai, Aug 2 (IANS) Indian equity indices closed in the deep red on Friday session following profit booking on higher levels.

At closing, Sensex fell 885 points or 1.08 per cent to 80,981 and Nifty was down 293 points or 1.17 per cent at 24,717.

The decline resulted in over Rs 4 lakh crore loss in market capitalisation (MCAP) for all listed companies on the BSE.

Selling was seen in the broader markets. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 57,913, down 576 points or 0.99 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap closed at 18,800, down 149 points or 0.79 per cent.

Except Pharma, all other indices closed in the red. The biggest decline was in Auto, IT, PSU Bank, Metal, Realty and Infra indices.

In the Sensex pack, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Wipro, Tata Steel, L&T, M&M, and TCS were the top losers. HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Nestle were the top gainers.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said: "Nifty has slipped sharply amid a global sell-off. Technically, it has drifted down after forming a spinning top on the daily timeframe. The RSI indicator has turned downward, indicating a bearish crossover. The market appears to be favouring 'sell on rise' traders as long as it remains below 24,800. On the downside, Nifty might drift towards 24,530 or 24,400."