Sensex ends down by 100 points; HUL bucks trend with 7% gain

Snapping four straight sessions of gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex today declined by almost 100 points to close at 17,705.01 on profit-booking even as corporates ICICI Bank and HUL posted good quarterly earnings.

Investors booked profits in refinery and metal counters after their solid gains last week, brokers said. Select capital goods and auto counters too attracted selling, market players said.

The 30-share Sensex was weighed down mainly on fall in RIL, Tata Motors, ONGC, ITC, and TCS.

FMCG major HUL stole the limelight as its second quarter earnings boosted investor confidence. It closed up by a hectic 7.38 per cent -- the biggest gain among all Sensex stocks today -- and cushioned the fall in Sensex to some extent.

The company registered nearly 22 per cent rise in the net profit for the second quarter of the current fiscal. It announced an interim dividend of Rs3.50 per equity share of face value of Re1 each for current fiscal.

Market players said the barometer resumed stable after last week's Diwali rally, but later moved downwards. They added that weak European trends impacted the investor mood here. The key index finally ended the day at 17,705.01, a net loss of 99.79 points or 0.56 per cent, from its last close.

Similarly, the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also fell back by 34.10 points or 0.64 per cent to 5,326.60.

The Sensex had jumped by a massive 516 points or to close at 3-month high of 17,804.80. Last week, it had surged over 1,019 points or 6.07 per cent, recording biggest point-wise weekly gains in last two years.

Hindalco was the top Sensex loser at 4.11 per cent followed by Sterlite Ind at 4.10 per cent. Auto major Tata Motors was another big loser at 3.76 per cent. Market leader RIL too lost 2.26 per cent.

Wipro ended down 1.7 per cent after it reported a marginal 1.24 per cent at Rs1,300.9 crore for the Septemebr quarter. ICICI Bank lost 0.26 per cent, notwithstanding 22 per cent growth in profit.