Sensex down 143 points as global bourses take a plunge

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 17,623.66 points, closed at 17,471.03 points, 143.45 points or 0.81 percent down from its previous close at 17,614.48 points.         

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5,241.1 points, down 0.91 percent from its previous close at 5,289.05 points.         
Broader markets indices ended flat, with the BSE midcap index ending 0.06 percent lower and the BSE smallcap index down 0.12 percent

The market breadth was negative, with 1,341 scrips advancing, compared to 1,549 stocks declining, and 117 remaining unchanged.

Among the gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 1.86 percent at Rs.276.20; Reliance Communications, 1.59 percent at Rs.185.15; TCS, up 0.77 percent at Rs.763.60; and BHEL, up 0.05 percent at Rs.2,371.15.

Prominent losers included Tata Motors, down 2.22 percent at Rs.750.90; Sterlite Industries, down 2.12 percent at Rs.159.35; ONGC, down 1.87 percent at Rs.1,266.65; and RIL, down 1.83 percent at Rs.1,052.95.

According to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors bought scrips worth $80.23 million Wednesday.
Asian markets were dull with investors booking profits after the gains Tuesday, tracking US markets which ended flat after a brief rise.

The Japanese Nikkei closed 0.63 percent down at 9,279.65 points on profit taking in exporters stocks, while the South Korean Kospi ended 0.55 percent lower at 1,675.65 points.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shut shop at 19,857.07 points, down 1.13 percent. The Chinese Shanghai Composite index, however, ended in the green at 2,407.08 points, up 0.49 percent.

European markets were jittery ahead of a banking stress test, which would include financial institutions in the crisis-hit countries of Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
In Britain, the benchmark index FTSE 100 was ruling 0.53 percent down at 4,938.5 points, while the French CAC 40 was trading 0.62 percent lower at 3,401.99 points.
The German DAX was down 0.41 percent at 5,916.69 points.