Sensex cuts short 3-day rally; closes 45 points lower

Erasing early gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today fell by nearly 45 points as investors booked profits after a three-day rally amid weak global cues.

The 30-share index, which had gained 410 points in last three sessions, closed lower by 44.52 at 20,015.80 points led by fall in market leader Reliance Industries.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 16.25 points to settle at 5,984.40 points, after moving between 5,958 and 6,023.80 points.

The early upsurge was snapped as Reliance Industries, the heaviest on the Sensex, fell by Rs 14.40 to Rs 1,057.05 and Maruti Suzuki, the biggest carmaker, lost Rs 30.20 to Rs 1,398.75.

A mixed trend in the Asian region and a lower opening in Europe on low participations of the foreign funds ahead of the year-end holidays further influenced the market sentiment.

In the 30-BSE index components, 15 stocks closed with gains and 14 ended in negative zone, while Hindustan Unilever remained unchanged.

The oil and gas sector index suffered the most by losing 0.71% to 10,655.01 followed by capital goods index by 0.61% to 15,227 points.

The banking sector index lost 0.55% to 13,005.89 and consumer durable index by 0.47% to 6,065.52.

As the buying interest seen shifting to low level investments, the small-cap index rose by 0.30% to 9,337.11 and the mid-cap index by 0.10% to 7,625.65 points.