Sensex slips after stint in green

Mumbai, Nov 5 : After a sharp spike of 300 points and a breach into the positive zone, a key index of the Indian equities markets slipped back into the red Thursday afternoon.

At 2.15 p.m., the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened higher at 15,926.13 points, was at 15,777.06 points, 0.85 percent or 135.07 points below its previous close at 15,912.13 points.

The Sensex rose more than 300 points as the government announced that it will list all profitable state-run firms and divest a 10 percent equity in these companies to the public.

The accruals from such stake sale will go towards capital investment in the social sector, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also in the red at 4,675.35 points, down 0.75 percent from its last close.

However, broader market indices were holding up with the BSE midcap index 0.68 percent up and the BSE small cap index 0.81 percent higher.

As a result, the market breadth was positive, with 1,476 stocks advancing, 1,094 declining and 86 remaining unchanged.

Among the other gainers this time on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 3.37 percent; Reliance Communications, up 2.39 percent; Hindalco, up 1.38 percent, and ONGC, up 1.34 percent.

Among the major losers were Infosys, down 2.75 percent; SBI, down 2.74 percent; DLF, down 2.68 percent and ITC, down 2.67 percent.

Other Asian markets were in the red as well.

The primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, was 135.69 points or 0.63 percent lower at 21,479.08 points.

The Kospi, benchmark index of the Korean Stock Exchange, was ruling at 1,552.24 points, down 27.69 points or 1.75 percent.

The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed 126.87 points or 1.29 percent down at 9,717.44 points.

On the other hand, the Shanghai Stock Exchange composite index ended trade higher at 3,155.05 points, up 0.85 percent.