Sensex loses 146 points on profit-booking, no-confidence motion against govt

The BSE Sensex tumbled from its all-time high to end 147 points lower at 36,373.44 in choppy trade on Wednesday after a no-confidence motion against the government was moved in the Lok Sabha.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she would announce the date for a debate on it in "2-3 days".

The Nifty too slipped below the psychologically important 11,000 mark.

The Sensex swung about 427 points on alternate bouts of buying and selling during the volatile session.

The BSE 30-share barometer, after hitting a new record of 36,747.87 points in early session, suddenly turned weaker in mid-afternoon trade after the no-confidence motion was tabled in the lower house.

It finally ended at 36,373.44, down 146.52 points, or 0.40%, with metal, realty, telecom, auto, FMCG, power and banking stocks coming under selling pressure.

The gauge had gained 196.19 points in the previous session after a sharp drop in global crude oil prices.

The broader NSE Nifty slipped by 27.60 points, or 0.25% to finish at 10,980.45. Intra-day, it shuttled between 11,076.20 and 10,956.30.

Brokers said apart from profit-booking at record levels by participants, political developments, fresh weakness in the rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows hurt trading sentiment.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 673.99 crore yesterday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 840.06 crore, data released by stock exchanges showed.