Sensex down 134pts as Cyprus bailout weighs on global stk mkts

The BSE benchmark Sensex today slumped by 134.26 points to end at two-week low of 19,293.20 on heavy selling in global markets on reports of a proposed bailout of Cyprus which renewed concerns over Eurozone crisis.

The Sensex, which had lost 143 points in the previous session, fell by 134.36 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 19,293.20, a level last seen on March 6.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 37.35 points, or 0.64 per cent to 5,835.25.

"The Cyprus issue created an initial panic in the Indian markets, which opened gap-down. For rest of the day, markets did recover a bit but remained on tenterhooks," said Nagji K Rita, Chairman & MD, Inventure Growth & Securities.

Finance Ministers in Euro area reached a pact on March 16 forcing depositors in Cyprus banks to share in the cost of the bailout. The country's parliament, however, is yet to vote on the proposed Euro 10 billion bailout deal with lenders.

Brokers said funds turned cautious and investors offloaded part of their positions before the Reserve Bank of India policy meeting tomorrow. ICICI Bank dropped by 1.50 per cent, SBI by 0.58 per cent and HDFC Ltd by one per cent.

Among other interest-sensitive stocks, DLF fell by 0.84 per cent, Unitech by 3.15 per cent, Maruti Suzuki by 2.98 per cent, Bajaj Auto by 2.06 per cent and Tata Motors by 1.55 per cent.

Reliance Industries also dropped by 1.45 per cent and Infosys by 0.77 per cent.
Sectorally, the metal sector index suffered the most by losing 2.34 per cent to 9,045.62, followed auto index by 1.44 per cent to 10,472.49. Realty sector index lost 1.21 per cent to 2,023.53 and Banking index by 0.67 per cent to 13,475.58.