Sensex ends 164 points lower; oil & gas, telecom, metals drag

The benchmark Nifty slipped into red in last one hour of trade and closed below an important pschological level of 5000 on back of fall in European markets. The markets were consolidated in the first half of trade after Monday's sharp sell-off.

European markets like France's CAC 40, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 1.2-1.5% for third consecutive day on rising European debt crisis. IBEX Index (Spain) was down 1.5% and Greek's Athex Composite down 1.3%. Investors still worried about recovery in European economies.

Power companies' shares in Germany' declined more than 3% as government announced that they will impose a tax on nuclear fuel, which will increase government revenues. EON AG and RWE AG dropped over 3%.
 
Telecom, metal, realty, oil & gas, technology, auto, select financials and power companies' shares witnessed selling pressure, which dragged the Sensex down by more than 150 points. However, HDFC, ITC, Tata Power, Axis Bank, Siemens, BHEL, NTPC, Cipla, HUL and PNB were the only gainers.

Indices slipped for the second consecutive day. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 16,617.10, down 163.97 points or 0.98% and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 46.90 points or 0.93% to settle at 4,987.10. The Nifty June futures ended at 22 points discount, as per provisional data.

All sectoral indices ended in red barring FMCG. The BSE Metal and Realty indices tumbled 2-2.5%.

Telecom companies' shares witnessed profit booking as they rallied in last week. Bharti Airtel, which has taken control of Zain Assets today, lost 3.7%. Reliance Communications was down 5% and Idea Cellular down 2%.