Sensex closes lower at 16256

A lacklustre Railway budget snapped the two-day gains of the Bombay Stock Exchange barometer Sensex which shed 30 points on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Budget. Amid weak global advices, Sensex opened nearly 100 points down and continued to remain range-bound as wary operators remained cautious ahead of the expiry of February contracts on Thursday and the Budget day after. Finally the 30-share bellwether closed 30.35 points or 0.19 per cent down at 16255.97 after touching a high of 16328.44 and a low 16187.44. The Sensex had shot up 254.56 points or 1.74 per cent on the previous Railway budget day. The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty lost 11.45 points to 4858.60, after moving between 4880.55 and 4834.65. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee kept passenger fares and freight rates unchanged but reduced freight rate for kerosene foodgrains, and fertilizer, which will bring down inflation. Though Ms. Mamata ruled out privatisation, she invited private investment in railways and promised to clear such proposals within 100 days. However, the market was upset as she did not increase wagon order rate, which fuelled concern that the budget might rollback stimulus measures and thus check the rally in the rail-related stocks. Among the 30 Sensex stocks, 19 closed in the red led by Tata Steel and financial scrips, while 11 closed with gains.

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