BSE Sensex falls to near 6-week low as rate cut hopes dim

The BSE Sensex on Friday washed out all of its mid-session gains in a volatile trade, declining by another 90 points to close at nearly 6-week low on concerns over the depreciating rupee and hawkish statement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the forthcoming monetary policy.

Weak Asian trends amid selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) also weighed on the market.

The central bank on Friday said its monetary actions in the coming months will be determined by the outlook on monsoon and ensuing impact on inflation, which impacted negatively on interest rate sensitive stocks from auto, realty and banking segments.

However, IT stocks were in demand after fall in the rupee value below 57-mark.

The 30-share index resumed higher and touched a high of 19,711.55 at mid-session, up by over 192 points. Later, it fell back to settle at 6-week low of 19,429.23, showing a fall of 90.26 points or 0.46 per cent.

Fall in ICICI Bank, RIL, HDFC Bank, M&M, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, L&T, SBI, ONGC, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki and NTPC mainly kept the market under pressure at the fag end.

The Sensex had declined by 48.73 points, or 0.25 per cent, on Thursday.

The broader NSE 50-issue CNX Nifty also dropped by 40.40 points, or 0.68 per cent, to end below 5,900-mark at 5,881.00, level not seen since April 26, 2013 when it had finished at 5,871.45.

According to the provisional data from stock exchanges, FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 270.47 crores on Thursday and also impacted negatively on the market sentiment.

With inputs from PTI