Sensex ends moderately lower by 30 pts

Mumbai : The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex snapped two days of gains to end the day lower by 30 points with investors keeping fingers crossed ahead of the General Budget on Friday.

The 30-share index settled at 16,255.97 points, a loss of 30.35 points over the previous close.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 11.45 points to close at 4,858.60 points.

Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee keeping freight rates unchanged in the rail budget did not enthuse investors much as they keenly awaiting the General Budget, marketmen said.

Investors surrendered their holdings in railway related stocks created in early trade, they added.

Brokers said Mamata keeping freight and passenger fares unchanged has led to speculations that stimulus packages would be withdrawn in the General Budget.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, 19 closed with losses led by Tata Steel, while 11 ended with gains.

Trading volumes were down ahead of current month derivatives segment contract ending on Thursday.

The consumer durable sector index suffered the most by losing 1.31 per cent to 3,957.17 points followed by healthcare index by 0.64 per cent to 4,830.08 points.

The auto sector index fell by 0.43 per cent to 6,850 points, teck index by 0.28 per cent to 3,165.86 points, banking by 0.18 per cent to 9,583.75 points, PSU index by 0.13 per cent to 9,131.91 points, FMCG index by 0.10 per cent to 2,746.09 points, metal by 0.09 per cent to 16,015.03 points and power index by 0.08 per cent to 2,954.56 points.

However, realty, IT, oil and gas and capital goods sector posted gains and saved the market from any major fall.
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