Sensex closes in red in choppy trade, 150 pts down
Feb 20th, 2007 by shan
The BSE benchmark Sensex failed to hold on to initial gains of 63 points as the index closed in the negative zone with a fall of 150 points on profit-booking followed by funds selling in heavy-weight stocks.
The 30-share index, Sensex, which had gained over 392 points in the past two sessions, succumbed to profit-taking by retail investors and ended at 149.52 points, or 1.04 percent down at 14,253.38 points. It touched a high of 14,466.76 and a low of 14,230.47 points.
Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, lost 60.35 points, or 1.45 percent at 4,104.20. Earlier, it had surged to hit an intra-day high of 4,175.45 points.
Market observers said apart from mid-way profit-selling by retail investors, off-loading of positions by speculators ahead of expiry of February in the futures and option (F&O) segment on Thursday, led to a fall in stock prices.