Sensex extends losses, ends 369 pts down

Sensex extends losses, ends 369 pts down

It was another day in the red for bank, realty, capital goods and power stocks as participants pressed heavy sales in these sectors amid growing concerns over declining growth. Oil, auto and FMCG stocks too had a weak outing.

Metal stocks opened on a firm note but pared their gains as the session progressed. Select pharma stocks edged higher on stock specific support. Information technology stocks moved up thanks to the rupee's decline against the US dollar.

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Weak US and Asian markets, a surge in crude oil prices and the market regulator SEBI's decision to refrain from altering the guidelines on FII investments through participatory notes were among the factors that contributed to the market's fall today. Also, investors appeared reluctant to pick up stocks ahead of release of inflation data and a long weekend.

While the 30 share BSE sensitive index Sensex, which nosedived to a low of 14,686.66 in late afternoon trade, ended the day with a loss of 368.94 points or 2.44% at 14,724.18, the broader 50 stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange settled with a loss of 98.35 points or 2.17% at 4430.70, near its intra-day low of 4421.25.

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies (3.95%) ruled firm right through the session today. Satyam Computer Services gained 1.4%. Tata Consultancy Services edged up by 0.45% while Wipro failed to retain gains and ended in the negative territory.

Tata Power (1.6%), Sterlite Industries (1.2%) and Tata Steel (0.95%) closed on a firm note. Ranbaxy Laboratories edged up marginally. Realty stock DLF went down by 8.65%. Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Infrastructure lost around 7.75%. State Bank of India eased by 6.2%. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank lost over 5%.

Capital goods heavyweights Larsen & Toubro (down 4.8%) and BHEL (down 4.45%) posted sharp losses. Reliance Communications slipped by 3.75%. HDFC Bank ended 3.45% down. Maruti Suzuki, ACC, Reliance Industries, Hindalco and NTPC lost 2.5% - 3%.

Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC and Grasim Industries also closed with sharp losses. Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel lost around a quarter per cent each.

Punjab National Bank, Unitech, Tata Communications, Hero Honda, Ambuja Cements, Zee Entertainment, Nalco, Power Grid Corporation, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, BPCL, Idea Cellular and ABB ended sharply lower today. HCL Technologies, Cairn India, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Cipla closed on a positive note.

As selling pressure took a toll of midcap and smallcap stocks as well, the market breadth was weak today. Out of a total of 2730 stocks traded on BSE, 1849 stocks closed weak. 811 stocks ended higher and 70 stocks closed flat.
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Source:Sify,ET,UTV