Sensex plummets 445 pts as US financial crisis deepens

Sensex plummets 445 pts as US financial crisis deepens

On expectations that the bailout package would take some pressure off the market, the Wall Street had ended on a firm note yesterday. But there were negative triggers galore when trading commenced on the major Indian bourses this morning.
Astro predictions on Sensex
The fall of Washington Mutual, uncertainties over the fate of the $700 billion bailout plan mooted by the US government to cure the ailing financial sector, weak economic data - not surprisingly all the negative news flowed in from United States - set the platform for the bears to launch an all-out assault on stocks this morning. As if they were not enough, Asian markets were trading weak (they subsequently ended with sharp losses) and as the session progressed the mood turned still more bearish due to weakness exhibited by European markets.
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The Sensex, which crashed to a low of 13,054.42 in late afternoon trade, ended the day at 13,102.18 with a huge loss of 445 points or 3.28%. The Nifty closed with a loss of 125.30 points or 3.05% at 3985.25, around 15 points off its intra-day low of 3970.35.
Realty, bank, metal, capital goods, power, information technology, auto and oil stocks, all got a beating today. Losses recorded by realty stocks were more pronounced. Mirroring this, the Realty index went down by as much as 6.33% today. The Bankex eased by 4.27%. BSE Metal lost 4.76% and the Capital Goods index declined 4.1%.
Stockometer
Reflecting the erosion in prices of power, IT, PSU, auto and oil stocks, the respective sectoral indices ended lower by 3% - 3.5%. BSE Teck lost nearly 3%. The Consumer Durables and Healthcare indices eased by 2.22% and 1.55% respectively. The FMCG barometer outperformed the market and finished with a sharp gain of 0.96%.
Top gainers
From the Sensex pack, only ITC (2.05%), Hindustan Unilever (1.2%) and ACC (0.45%) ended on a positive note today. Among Nifty stocks, Tata Communications moved up by 5.9%. Cipla, Sun Pharmaceuticals and GAIL India posted modest gains and Zee Entertainment edged up marginally.
Worst losers
Ranbaxy Laboratories slipped by over 8% amid reports of US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) suspension of funding for three of its generic HIV/AIDS drugs. Sterlite Industries ended with a loss of 6.25%. ICICI Bank, Grasim Industries, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL and DLF lost 5% - 6%.
Tata Steel, Reliance Communications, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys Technologies, HDFC, ONGC, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Industries declined by 3% - 5%.
NTPC, Tata Motors, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Jaiprakash Associates, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Power and Tata Consultancy Services also closed with sharp losses.
Unitech lost nearly 8% today. SAIL and Siemens eased by over 6%. HCL Technologies lost 5.3%. ABB, Nalco, Suzlon Energy, Punjab National Bank, Ambuja Cements, Reliance Petroleum, BPCL, Idea Cellular, Power Grid Corporation and Hero Honda also ended with sharp losses.
Akruti City (down 16.7%) was the biggest loser in BSE 'A' Group. Gujarat Petronet tumbled 11.35%. Gujarat NRE Coke, Aban Offshore, Century Textiles, Lanco Infratech and India Bulls Financial Services lost 9% - 10%.
HDIL, Bombay Dyeing, Tata Chemicals, Praj Industries, Indian Overseas Bank, Financial Technologies, Voltas, IFCI, Jindal Steel, Chambal Fertilizers and Patni Computer ended lower by 7% - 9%.
Sterlite Technologies, Electrosteel Castings, Ashapura Minechemicals, State Trading Corporation, ICSA, Anant Raj Industries, Madhucon Projects, Bilcare, Orbit Corporation, Ansal Infrastructure, Deccan Aviation, Mahindra Lifespace and Infotech Enterprises were some of the major losers in the midcap space.
The market breadth was very weak. On the BSE, 2172 stocks ended in the negative territory. 442 stocks posted gains and 59 stocks ended flat.

Source:Sify