BSE Sensex ends 64 points lower on selling in oil, FMCG stocks

The BSE Sensex witnessed a volatile trade on Wednesday and fell 64 points on selling in oil & gas, FMCG and banking shares.

Brokers said mixed cues from overseas markets, after US consumer confidence slumped in September to a four-month low, further influenced the market sentiment.

After a better start at 19,978.49, the 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange failed to sustain gains and touched the day's low of 19,658.74. However, some value-buying in blue-chips in the last one and half hours of trade helped Sensex recoup some losses to end at 19,856.24 - still down 63.97 points, or 0.32 per cent.

On similar lines, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 18.60 points, or 0.32 per cent, to close at 5,873.85, after shuttling between 5,910.55 and 5,811.10.

Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, ended 72.51 points down at 11,778.7.

"Consistent selling pressure in index heavy weights like Reliance Industries, HUL, HDFC Bank and ITC weighed ... September has been very volatile for the markets owing to quite a few macro-economic events. Global and domestic developments coupled with political happenings continue to worry the markets," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Limited.

Major Sensex losers include Reliance Industries which dropped by 2.93 per cent, HDFC Bank (2.78 per cent), ITC (1.36 per cent), HUL (1.52 per cent) and HDFC (1.01 per cent).

Bucking the general weakening trend, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, L&T, ONGC, Sesa Goa, Tata Motors, TCS and Sun Pharma gained.

Overall, 15 stocks in the 30-share index declined.

Sectorally, the BSE Oil and Gas sector index suffered the most by losing 1.36 per cent, followed by FMCG index (1.12 per cent), Banking index (0.94 per cent) and Realty index (0.56 per cent).

With inputs from PTI