Sensex falls 140 pts on high oil prices

Extending its losing streak for the fourth day,the Sensex on Friday fell by 140 points.

The BSE Sensex fell 140 points to 19,451.45 due to persistent selling pressure on concerns over corporate earnings as crude oil prices rose to over two year highs and the strengthening of the rupee,which hit IT stocks.

Realty and Auto stocks fell on profit booking after the recent strong gains. Banking shares dropped on worries as high inflation and rising interest rates could hurt future profits.

The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex resumed higher at 19,602.81 and shot up further to the day8217;s high of 19,697.21. However,it failed to maintain initial gains on profit-booking and declined to 19,388.42 before finishing at 19,451.45 8211; down 139.73 points or 0.71 per cent.

Sensex lost 111 points in the previous three sessions.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also dropped by 43.70 points or 0.74 per cent to finish at 5,842.00.

Brokers said investors were booking profits after rally in March,when the index had gained over 9 per cent. Besides,they said the selling was confined more to software exporting companies as rupee strengthened against the US dollar. IT companies get maximum business from abroad and appreciation in the rupee dent their earnings.

High global commodity prices will add to pressure on profit margins of corporates as high oil prices will fan inflation,leading to higher interest rates. US crude oil futures up by USD 1.23 a barrel at USD 111.53 a barrel.

Meanwhile,FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 220.59 crore on Thursday.

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8220;The stock market is taking a breather. Today8217;s fall was on the back of profit-booking by the investors who have taken a pause for the moment,8221; Unicon Financial Services CEO Gajendra Nagpal said.

Meanwhile,Amar Ambani,Head of Research India Private Clients 8211; IIFL said,8221;The market is consolidating after notching up strong gains in the past few days. There are not many catalysts that could take the market further up from here in the near term.8221;

He added that on the local front,the attention will shift to Q4 corporate earnings. FII inflows and inflation are the other two variables one should keep a close eye on,Ambani said.

However,most Asian stocks ended higher.

Key indices in China,South Korea,Hong Kong,Japan and Singapore rose by between 0.47 per cent to 1.85 per cent while Taiwan8217;s Weighted index fell by 0.08 per cent.

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European markets were also trading higher in their early trade following rally in Japanese stocks and a surge in precious-metal prices. The key benchmark indices in UK,

Germany and France were up between 0.58 per cent and 0.81 per cent.

Major losers from the Sensex pack were Jaiprakash Associates 3.77 pc,DLF 3.73 pc,Hindalco 2.99 pc,Tata Motors 2.84 pc,Reliance Infra 2.12 pc,Maruti Suzuki 1.95 pc,Hero Honda 1.84 pc,Bajaj Auto 1.72 pc,RIL 1.53 pc,NTPC 1.40 pc,Wipro 1.34 pc,REL COM 1.31 pc,Tata Steel 1.23 pc,ONGC 1.16 pc,Jindal Steel 1.14 pc and SBI 1.05 pc.

However,Bharti Airtel firmed up by 1.56 per cent and ITC by 0.88 per cent.

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Among the sectoral indices the BSE-Realty fell by 2.52 pc,the BSE-Auto by 1.87 pc,BSE-Consumer Durable by 1.48 pc,the BSE-PSU by 1.37 pc,the BSE-Oilamp;Gas by 1.33 pc and the BSE-Metal by 1.25 pc.

Among the Sensex pack 25 scrips ending with losses while five scrips finishing with gains.

The total market breadth turned negative as 1,947 shares finished with losses while 1,002 shares ended with gains on the BSE. The total turnover fell to Rs 3,441.94 crore from Rs 3,509.62 crore on Thursday.