JOIN USWeekend blues send bourses into a tailspin
The Sensex at BSE lost 244.31 points or 1.46 per cent to settle at 16,453.76, its lowest closing level since September 28, 2011. The index lost 293.29 points at the day’s low and rose 47.09 points at the day’s high. The 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty at NSE lost 72.20 points or 1.44 per cent to settle at 4,943.25, its lowest closing level since 26 September 2011.
The benchmark has logged a decline of 9.6 per cent in the July-September quarter — biggest dip in three years. Sensex lost 10.4 per cent in the same quarter in 2008.
On the domestic market, metal stocks saw the biggest cut after the Cabinet cleared the new mining bill that makes it mandatory for mining firms to share 26 per cent of net profits with the tribals. At the same time, global investors seem to be still worried over the implementation of bailout package approved in parliament by Germany on Thursday, though after passing the plan, they were breathing a sigh of relief. European markets were down 1.5-2.5 per cent. Besides, likely muted-to-weak Q2 September 2011 corporate earnings also weighed on investor sentiment in D-Street.
All the sectoral indices ended in the red except consumer durables. Banking, metal, FMCG, capital goods, technology, auto and select power stocks too saw selling pressure.
Analysts said that signs of slowdown were visible in the economy due to the dip in tax collection and failure by the government in achieving disinvestment target. Besides, the government on Thursday said it would borrow additional Rs 53,000 crore than the budgeted amount for fiscal 2011-12.
Kotak Securities’ Managing Director D Kannan said “Indian markets continued to exhibit volatility during the month of September 2011 but ended nearly flat. The markets remaining range bound till further clarity emerges on the global issues. Affirmative action on policy reforms and moderation in commodity prices will be a positive for the markets.”
From broader indices, the BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.58 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.88 per cent. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak with as many as 1,757 shares on BSE fell and 1,045 rose, while a total of 120 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2480 crore, higher than Thursday’s Rs 2272 crore.
During the day, markets across Asia also posted a quarterly loss. The Nikkei Stock Average closed flat at 8,695 and the China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged 2.3 per cent as they played catch up after the holiday. The Nikkei index was down over 11 per cent, while the Hang Seng index plunged over 21 per cent in the September quarter.
In Europe, the FTSE 100, CAC 40 and the DAX plummeted almost 2 per cent each as the Euro-zone debt concerns continued to loom on the investor sentiment. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 120 points at the opening bell on Friday.