Sensex tanks 630 pts on worries over land, tax reforms

The benchmark BSE Sensex plunged by 630 points today to below 27,000-level on across-the-board selling over concerns that key reform bills may get delayed, while weakness in global bond markets also hit sentiment.

In addition, rupee depreciated by 35 paise to Rs 64.20 against the dollar in intra-day trade today.

Key bills, Goods and Service Tax (GST) amendment bill and the land acquisition bill, got stuck in Rajya Sabha, raising fears of further delay in government's economic reforms, traders said.

Participants were also cautious ahead of the release of retail inflation data for April and IIP data for March.

Globally, volatility in the bond markets weighed on global stocks, adding to investors' anxiety over Greece's finances.

Ten-year US Treasury yields hit their highest since early December, while German yields added 8 bps to 0.67 percent.

Back home, the 30-share BSE index opened in the negative zone after rallying for the last two days. A major sell-off in blue-chips dragged the index below the psychological 27,000-mark to touch a low of 26,837.39.

The index finally settled down by 629.82 points or 2.29 per cent at 26,877.48. It had rallied by 908.19 points in the last two session on government's move on MAT issue and hopes of an RBI rate cut.

The 50-issue Nifty slipped below the 8,200-level by falling 198.30 points or 2.38 per cent to close at 8,126.95. Intra-day, it moved between 8,326.65 and 8,115.30.

Of 30-Sensex stocks, 28 ended lower, while Dr Reddy's and Hero MotoCorp managed to finish in the green.

Dr Reddy's rose 3.31 per cent after it reported a 7.73 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 518.84 crore for the quarter ended March 31.

Tata Steel was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks by tumbling 6.29 per cent, followed by BHEL 5.07 per cent. Vedanta (formerly Sesa Sterlite) lost 4.98 per cent.
The broader markets too saw selling activity. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices ended lower by 1.72 per cent each.

Meanwhile, stock markets in Asia ended with a mixed bias and European markets were trading lower in their morning session. 

Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research at Veracity Broking Services said: "..now traders are eagerly waiting for the series of US data lined up for the week, which will show the road ahead to the market."

Globally, Asian markets closed mixed with key indices from Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea finished in the red, while from China, Japan and Taiwan rose.

European stocks, however, displayed a distinctly weak trend in their late morning deals on doubts over Greece's future in the euro zone.

The France's CAC was down by 1.96 per cent, Germany's DAX fell 2.41 percent and the UK's FTSE dropped 1.94 per cent.

Back home, Tata Steel was the biggest loser on the Sensex with a fall of 6.29 per cent, followed by BHEL 5.07 per cent, Vedanta 4.98 per cent, ICICI Bank 4.59 per cent, Tata Power 3.64 per cent, L&T 3.40 per cent, Axis Bank 3.34 per cent, Hindalco 3.20 per cent, SBI 3.13 per cent, RIL 3.06 per cent, ONGC 3.02 per cent and Tata Motors 3.00 per cent.
However, Dr Reddy's rose by 3.31 per cent on better-than- expected Q4 results, followed by Hero MotoCorp 3.18 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty tumbled by 3.30 per cent, followed by power 3.12 per cent, consumer goods 3.10 per cent, bankex 3.09 per cent, metal 2.97 per cent, oil&gas 2.56 per cent, Teck 1.85 per cent and auto 1.83 per cent.

The market breadth turned negative as 1,962 stocks ended in red, 746 stocks finished higher, while 95 ruled steady.

The total turnover rose to Rs 3,142.70 crore from Rs 2,718.72 crore yesterday.