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Sensex drops 401 points

MUMBAI: The government’s pep talk had little impact on the Indian bourses. The Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index, Sensex, tumbled on Wednesday after a brief recovery on Tuesday and ended at 13769.15 points in line with global weaknesses and heavy capital outflows.

The sell-off was so aggressive that even indications of an early road map for disinvestment and a partial recovery in the Asian and European markets failed to influence market sentiment. The Sensex ended with a net fall of 401.30 points or 2.83 per cent against 14170.45 on Tuesday.

The National Stock Exchange’s 50-share Nifty slumped by 123.25 points or 2.93 per cent to close at 4078.90. Ashika Stock Brokers research head Paras Bothra said that the domestic markets were now following global cues. With all international markets currently under pressure the Indian markets also fell after a slight rise on Tuesday, Mr. Bothra said.

Asian indices ended in negative territory after a bounce-back from its early lows while the European markets traded in the red.

The smallcap and midcap stocks too faced heavy sell-off. India’s largest steel maker Tata Steel was the day’s weak spot as it fell by 8.93 per cent.

Among other major losers, Sterlite Ind was down by 8.38 per cent, DLF by 7.69 per cent, REL Infra by 7.64 per cent, L&T by 5.84 per cent and ICICI Bank by 5.82 per cent.

The rupee virtually touched the crucial 49 level against the dollar on Wednesday before ending at a seven-week low of 48.88/89, lower by 44 paise. It closed at 48.44/45 on Tuesday.

Generally, the rupee moved in line with equity markets as the Indian benchmark Sensex tumbled due to weakness in global stocks in the wake of rising doubts about recovery in the economy.

The Indian unit resumed weak at 48.76/77 and later traded in a range of 48.73 and 48.94 a dollar intra-day. — PTI

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