Continuing worries over capital outflows coupled with fresh weakness in the rupee cast a shadow on stock markets with the S&P BSE Sensex today slipping by around 233 points to end at over two-month lows, making investors poorer by a staggering Rs 1.1 lakh crore.
Besides, steep fall in Chinese stocks and other Asian markets and a weak opening in European stock indices also hurt domestic market sentiment. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer resumed lower and remained in negative terrain throughout to settle down by 233.35 points, or 1.24 per cent at 18,540.89 -- lowest close since 18,357.80 on April 15.
Depreciation of rupee value against the dollar continued to weigh on the market sentiment as the the local currency traded at around 59.8 levels, close to record low of 59.98.
Index based counters like ITC, L&T, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ONGC, SBI, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Tata Motors, M&M and HUL were at the receiving end and contributed to the Sensex loss.
Selling was seen across-the-board as all 13 sectoral indices were down with 0.89-4.79 per cent losses. Realty, consumer durables, capital goods, PSU and FMCG suffered the most. Overall, nearly 7 out of 10 stocks closed lower among the 2,400 scrips that were traded today on BSE.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped by 77.40 points, or 1.37 per cent, to end at 5,590.25 -- a level not seen since April 15 when it settled at 5,568.40. Similarly, MCX-SX's SX40 index ended at 11,013.15, down 125.23 points.
Brokers said the main market mover, Foreign Institutional Investors have been on a selling spree and have offloaded over USD 5 billion in debt and equities in June so far.
Among other scrips, Ranbaxy fell nearly 7 percent amid reports of fresh regulatory trouble. JP Group stocks came under pressure on concerns over power plants in Uttarakhand.
Midcaps like Gitanjali Gems, Future Retail and Prestige Estate were down 10-20 per cent on heavy selling.
The mood is cautious ahead of expiry of monthly derivatives contract later this week. Mounting concerns that the US Fed may start scaling back its huge monthly bond-buying plan has kept global markets on tenterhooks.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index tumbled by 5.30 per cent, Hang Seng by 2.22 per cent, Nikkei by 1.26 per cent, Singapore Strait Times by 1.60 per cent, Kospi by 1.31 per cent and Taiwan Weighted by 0.45 per cent.
European markets too were trading lower in their early deals. France's CAC was down by 1.14 per cent, Germany's DAX by 0.80 per cent and the UK's FTSE by 1.31 per cent.
Back home, 24 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack ended lower. Only six finished higher.
Sterlite Ind (3.91 pc), Bharti Airtel (3.23 pc), BHEL (3.02 pc), ONGC (2.97 pc), L&T (2.80 pc), Hero Motocorp (2.71 pc), ITC (2.62 pc), SBI (2.09 pc), Gail India (2.03 pc) and Tata Steel (1.80 pc) saw deep cuts. Bajaj Auto (1.75 pc), HDFC Bank (1.63 pc), Infosys (1.61 pc), M&M (1.61 pc), Tata Motors (1.22 pc) and HUL (1.09 pc) also closed down.
However, among winners, Jindal Steel firmed up by 1.44 per cent after days of sharp losses , Hindalco Ind. by 0.64 per cent and Tata Power 0.61 per cent.
Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE-Realty dropped by 4.79 per cent, followed by S&P BSE-CD (3.38 pc), S&P BSE-CG (2.91 pc), S&P BSE-PSU (2.42 pc), S&P BSE-FMCG (2.1 pc), S&P BSE-Power (2.01 pc), S&P BSE-Auto (1.55 pc), S&P BSE-Oil&Gas (1.52 pc), S&P BSE-Teck (1.52 pc), S&P BSE-Bankex (1.48 pc), S&P BSE-Metal (1.25 pc) and S&P BSE-IT (1.05 pc).
Small-cap and Mid-cap indices underperformed the S&P BSE Sensex and fell by 2.16 and 2.56 per cent respectively due to heavy sell-off from retail investors. Traders said investors feared FIIs would start liquidating positiosn in shares where they had high ownership.
"The week started on a weak note with Nifty falling close to 1.2 per cent for the day. The capitulation in the midcap and small caps was even larger," said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth and Securities. Total market breadth remained negative as 1,635 stocks ended down while 651 stocks finished up. The total turnover dropped to Rs 1,647.90 crore from Rs 2,268.82 crore on last Friday.
