Sensex declines 63 pts, Nifty holds on 10,700 level

Mumbai, January 16

The benchmark Sensex pared its early gains to turn negative in late morning deals, trading lower by 63.47 points amid profit booking in realty, metal, energy, power, oil & gas and finance stocks.

Rally in global crude oil and concerns over inflating trade deficit that soared to a three-year high on rising gold and crude oil import bill weighed on the investor sentiment.

The government data showed the trade deficit on Monday widened to USD 14.88 billion last month from USD 13.83 billion in November.

The benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 63.47 points, or 0.18 per cent to 34,780.04 at 1050 hrs. The broader Nifty also fell by 28.65 points or 0.27 per cent at 10,712.90.

Major losers were Coal India 1.62 per cent, Tata Steel 1.58 per cent, Tata Motors 1.56 per cent, Reliance 1.48 per cent and Tatamtrdvr 1.44 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 32.92 crore on net basis while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 173.28 crore last Friday, provisional data showed.

Asian markets gained, erasing early losses amid announcements of corporate earnings.

US stock markets remained closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. — PTI.