Sensex wilts 271 points on EU woes

Apart from volatility, the market breadth was weak and the bellwether index of the Bombay Stock Exchange fell below the psychological 17,000 mark in late trade on Friday.  The Sensex opened soft following cues from Asian peers, while it managed to recover from this morning low’s and touched a high of 17,329 on Bharti Airtel and FMCG stocks.

However, the recovery proved short-lived and the indices fell again in noon consequent to opening of European markets and the inflation announcement as the Sensex shed 342 points from the day’s high to touch a new intra-day low of 16,923 points. 

Most of the indices were in red.  Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) declined, while State Bank of India (SBI) scrip slumped after poor Q4 result.  Sector-wise, IT stocks fell, while metal stocks too fell as copper futures dropped in global commodities markets.

The Sensex at BSE fell 271.27 points or 1.57 per cent to 16994.60 points. The index rose 63.45 points at the day’s high of 17,329.32 in mid-morning trade and fell 342.22 points at the day’s low of 16,923.65 in late trade. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty at NSE fell 85.40 points or 1.65 per cent to settle at 5,093.50 points in the day’s closing.