Close: Now its the US Housing market which added to the woes !

Markets went into a tailspin after bloodshed seen in US markets which had the Asian markets mauled. Markets across the globe cracked due to concerns the delinquencies reported in the US mortgage market. Asia reflected the pessimism too Market traded in deep red and the movement was restricted to a relatively narrow band. There was some level of recovery from lower levels but the recovery proved short lived. Investors cautiously traded as they wanted to play safe. Selling pressure was not just restricted to frontline stocks but was also to the Mid and Small caps. IT, Telecom and Banking stocks were out of favour while some buying was seen in Cement and Auto stocks. European markets traded weak.

Sensex closed down 453 points at 12529.62. Weighing on the Sensex were losses in ICICI Bk (829.7,-5 percent), Bharti Tele (729.05,-5 percent), Wipro (555.25,-5 percent), RCVL (398.55,-4 percent) and Satyam (432.7,-4 percent). Losses were restricted by gains in Bajaj Auto (2529.3,+0 percent) and Guj Ambuja (106.15,+0 percent).

MindTree Consulting spurted in late session. The stock was up almost by 15% to Rs 1005. Volumes in the scrip were a huge 90.1 lakh shares on BSE. The stock was also the most active counter with a turnover of almost Rs 824 crore. Mindtree has spurted on high volumes in the past three days. MindTree made an impressive debut when it got listed at Rs 599 on BSE on 7 March 2007 with a premium of 40.9% over the IPO price of Rs 425. The stock finally ended up by 5.5%. Promoted by ex CEO of Wipro, Mr. Ashok Soota, the company has certainly done well and expectations are high.

Low cost Airlines got a relief with civil aviation minister Mr. Praful Patel rolling back the ministry's proposal to hike peak hour airport charges. This is negative for Jet airways which was looking for a differentiation for its services. Still there is something to cheer here in a sense but really we still avoid the sector though falling crude could bring in positive surprises. Jet airways and Deccan Aviation both ended down by almost 2%.

The latest data showed that the infrastructure sector output grew by 8.7% in January 2007 from a year earlier, marginally higher than a revised 8.5% in December 2006. Infrastructure output in the April 2006-January 2007 period rose by 8.4% from a year earlier, despite a slowdown in production of crucial construction material cement as well as finished steel and coal. The data was certainly encouraging but didn't help much today as investors are more worried on the global issues.

Technically Speaking: Markets opened with a gap down of almost 280 points. Sensex started at 12694 levels today which was incidentally the intraday high and made a low of 12504. Volumes were decent at Rs. 4308 cr. Overall breadth was in favor of Decliners, where the Advance to Decliners ratio stood at 1:3. Sensex is now moving in a channel and 12470 levels becomes an important support for it. Breaking this would lead to levels of 12350 near the 200 DMA. However upsides will see resistance between 12970 - 13040 levels. This is 3rd gap down in last 1 month and may be tough to sustain. Sensex is just near the support and a bounce near term may be on cards. Do have a look at the technical chart on our website for BSE Sensex.