Sensex loses 73 points

Bulls lost further ground in another volatile trading session on Thursday as selling pressure intensified in stock markets with the expiry of the January series futures contracts in the futures and options segment. Up as much as 46 points around mid-afternoon, the 30-share BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) eventually ended with a loss of 73.30 points, or 1.25 per cent, at 5,802.75.

The market continued to show high volatility. The Sensex touched a high of 5,921.72 and a low of 5,774.32, thus moving in an intra-day range of 147 points. The benchmark index has been on a roller coaster ride ever since it struck a historic intra-day peak of 6,249.60 points on January 9, 2004. With Thursday’s fall, the Sensex has now lost 190 points in the last two sessions after rising nearly 400 points in the preceding three sessions. The index also widened its losses for 2004 to 110 points so far. The NSE S & P CNX Nifty Index also shed 19.50 points, or 1.05 per cent, to end at 1,843.60, coming off from an intra-day high of 1,883.10.