Key Indian equity indices end lower

Mumbai, May 2 (IANS) Key Indian equity market indices ended lower on Monday following global cues and disappointing corporate earnings.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 25,565.44 points, closed at 25,436.97 points -- down 169.65 points, or 0.66 percent over the previous day's close at 25,606.62 points.

It touched a high of 25,565.44 points and a low of 25,341.14 points in the day's trade.

The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed 43.90 points or 0.56 percent lower at 7,805.90 poin“s.

"The back-to-back rally in the Yen has dragged the Asian market, while European markets were mixed due to the volatility in crude prices. Today, Mid caps outperformed the large caps, but a cautious stance in the global and domestic market brings skepticism to sustainability," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Servic“s.

"It was a lacklustre day on the bourses as key benchmark indices traded in a narrow range in the negative zone. The sentiment in the market has been a bit on the cautious side following central banks' statements released in the previous week. Additionally, data showing a slowdown in growth in the Indian manufacturing sector in April, 2016 pushed the markets lower, with key indices losing nearly 0.5 percent for the day," said Shreyash Devalkar, fund manager - equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

The 100-scrip and 200-scrip indices of the BSE were lower by 0.27 percent and 0.16 percent, respectively. The mid-cap index was higher by 1.10 percent and small-cap stocks were up by 0.39 percent.

In Monday's trade, good buying was observed in basic materials and consumer durables sectors, while selling pressure was seen in banking and telecom sectors.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE basic materials index surged by 1.29 percent and consumer durables index 1.07 percent, while banking index dropped by 1.34 percent and telecom index slipped by 0.80 percent.

The major Sensex gainers on Monday were: BHEL, up 1.91 percent at Rs.127.80; GAIL, up 1.89 percent at Rs.367.10; Hero MotoCorp, up 0.99 percent at Rs.2930 and Maruti, up 0.91 percent at Rs.3829.55.

The losers were: ICICI Bank, down 4.08 percent at Rs.226.95; Dr.Reddy's, down 2.66 percent at Rs.3012.10; Adani Ports, down 1.93 percent at Rs.233.65 and Bharti Airtel, down 1.64 percent at Rs.357.85.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was lower by 3.11 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 1.5 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index ended lower by 0.24 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was closed, France's CAC 40 was up by 0.47 percent and Germany's DAX Index was up by 0.81 percent at the closing of the Indian markets.