Scams take toll on Sensex as sentiments go for a six
The unearthing of a major bribery scandal involving officials of some top PSU banks and finance firms rattled bourses with key benchmark indices — BSE Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty plunging to two-and-a-half-month lows during the week.
The market fell for third straight week after hitting record closing high early this month. Indian equities markets shed 449 points this week, taking the last three weeks’ loss to 1,868 points as 2G spectrum allocation scan and housing loan bribery scandal dampened sentiments and weighed heavy on markets.
Besides a series of scams weighing heavily on the markets, the weakness in overseas markets and selling by foreign funds, too, have dampened the market sentiment lately. The 30-share Sensex slumped by 448.83 points, or 2.29 per cent, to end the week at 19,136.61, its lowest closing level since September 9. The 50-scrip Nifty also fell by 138.35 points, or 2.35 per cent, to finish the week at 5,751.95, its lowest closing level since September 9.
Volatile trading
The BSE Mid-Cap index tanked 5.76 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index slumped 7.05 per cent. From the Sensex pack, 25 stocks fell and the rest five rose during the week.
Stock prices were volatile as traders rolled over positions in derivatives segment from near-month November 2010 series to December 2010 series.
Among major indices, BSE-Realty fell by 430.76 points, or 13.57 per cent, BSE-Metal 1,046.17 points, or 6.36 per cent, BSE-Capital goods 819.37 points, or 5.24 per cent, BSE-Power 152.17 points, or 5.10 per cent and Bankex lost 421.99 points, or 3.08 per cent. The Dolex-200 and the dolex-index dropped 57.92 points and 102.93 points respectively. However, BSE-IT index shot up by 119.24 points, or 2.02 per cent.
Total turnover of BSE and NSE rose to Rs 25,166.90 crore and Rs 93,871.04 crore respectively from last weekend’s Rs 19,924.35 crore and Rs 68,982.64 crore. According to data available with Securities & Exchange Board of India, foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth $116.6 million on Friday.
