Sensex closes below 17,000; metals, realty, oil & gas dip 2-3 per cent

The Sensex continued the sell-off for the second consecutive day and closed today's session below the 17,000 mark on the back of downtrend in oil & gas exploration, metal, banking, realty, auto and select power stocks. Weak global cues also weighed on the markets.

The markets slipped further in the last couple of hours due to heavyweight Reliance Industries, which was one of major losers, down over 3%. Its bonus shares, which issued in the ratio of 1:1, hit the markets today. Another news was that - according to sources, the company may submit binding bid for LyondellBasell this week. India's largest private sector refiner had submitted a non-binding bid on November 21.

It has to submit a binding proposal by December 15. Sources say the binding bid has to be similar to the earlier offer of USD 10-12 billion.

Reliance Communications also came under pressure, down about 1.7% post the telecom ministry comments about its audit report. The Telecom Ministry has said a special audit carried out by a government-appointed auditor has shown Reliance Communications under-reported its revenue. ''Reliance Communications under-reported its revenue during financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08,'' the ministry said, pegging the FY07 misrepresentation at Rs 1,000–1,500 crore. The Telecom Ministry today said the government may have lost Rs 250 crore on account of under-reporting.

On the global front, European markets were down over 0.6% and US index futures slipped 0.5% each, at the time of closing of Indian equities. Asian markets ended mixed. Hang Seng fell 0.77% and Jakarta was down 1.1% while Nikkei and Taiwan gained 1.45-1.6%. Shanghai, Straits Times and Kospi were up 0.2-0.5%.

Commodities declined as dollar gained further. Dollar Index, a measure of dollar against a basket of six other currencies like Euro, Yen, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Swiss Francs and Swedish Kronor, was up 0.5% at 76.05. Euro was at 1-month low of 1.4775 versus dollar.