Sensex plummets 502 pts on global weakness

Sensex plummets 502 pts on global weakness

As global markets plunged on concerns over mounting credit losses, blue chip stocks, barring a select few, reeled under a sustained onslaught and ended with big losses on the Indian bourses this afternoon. So weak was the sentiment that not even some good report cards from India Inc could pull the market out of the red today. The mood was also dampened on reports that a few blasts rocked Bangaluru this afternoon.


The bulls who had taken a retreat yesterday after holding sway for five successive sessions were not to be seen anywhere near the ring today. Bank and oil stocks were among the biggest losers. Realty, capital goods, power and metal stocks had a weak outing as well. A host of stocks from auto and IT sectors too wilted under pressure. Select pharma and FMCG stocks bounced back and closed with notable gains.

As selling interest centred around large caps today, mid and small cap stocks signed off without much damage.

The Sensex, which opened with a negative gap of around 325 points at 14,451.95 and crashed to a low of 14,210.63 in late afternoon trade, ended at 14,274.94 with a stunning loss of 502.07 points or 3.4%. The Nifty settled with a loss of 121.70 points or 2.74% at 4311.85, a few points off its low of 4297.15.

Ranbaxy Laboratories (3.15%), ACC (2.45%), Hindustan Unilever (1.95%), Satyam Computer Services (1.45%), NTPC (1.15%), Grasim Industries (0.7%) and Reliance Communications (0.35%) were the Sensex stocks that managed to close on a positive note today.

ICICI Bank (down 9.6%), HDFC Bank (down 7.15%), Reliance Industries (down 6.9%) and HDFC (down 5.65%) were severely hammered today. Jaiprakash Associates, ONGC, Reliance Infrastructure and BHEL lost 4% - 4.5%. Realty stock DLF and engineering major Larsen & Toubro eased by 3.2% and 3.15% respectively.

Tata Motors, Cipla, Tata Steel and State Bank of India lost 2% - 3%. Hindalco, Ambuja Cements, Infosys Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC lost 0.5% - 1.5%. Maruti Suzuki eased by around half a per cent while Wipro and Bharti Airtel ended with minor losses.

ABB, Tata Communications, Reliance Petroleum, Sterlite Industries, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Tata Power, HCL Technologies, GAIL India, Zee Entertainment, Suzlon Energy, SAIL and Unitech closed with sharp losses. Nalco moved up by 4.65%. Punjab National Bank, BPCL, Idea Cellular and Siemens settled with sharp to moderate gains.

Mangalore Refineries & Petrochemicals soared 16.7% on buoyant quarterly results. JP Hydropower, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, United Phosphorus, Ispat Industries, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Phoenix Mills, Jai Corp, Piramal Healthcare, India Cements, HMT, Petronet LNG, Jet Airways, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Max India, Tata Teleservices, India Bulls Financial Services and Rolta India ended with handsome gains.

Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Karnataka Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Bank, Federal Bank, Andhra Bank, Indian Bank and Corporation Bank were among the prominent losers among bank stocks besides the three heavyweights. Midcap stocks 3i Infotech, Ess Dee Aluminium, Honeywell Automation, United Breweries, Shree Cements, Renuka Sugars, Advanta, Sadbhav Engineering, IB Securities, KS Oils, Godfrey Philips, Balrampur Chini and Petronet LNG closed with impressive gains.

The market breadth was weak. Out of 2691 stocks traded on BSE today, 1154 stocks closed with gains. 1460 stocks posted losses and 77 stocks ended flat.

Source:Sify