Uncertain times to continue
Bulls were again pushed on the back foot as the markets witnessed a brutal downfall today led by heavy selling witnessed in the Banking, Technology, Capital Good and Metal stocks. Markets started off with a big gap on the lower side following subdued global cues. The key indices never managed to recover its losses as wide based selling dragged the benchmark Sensex to hit an intra-day low of 12504.10 closing near the days low. Benchmark Sensex fell over 400 points wiping off all gains of last couple of trading sessions. However, Select stocks like recently listed Mind Tree, again out performed, India Cement and ACC also locked in some gains towards the end. Finally, the 30-share benchmark Sensex plunged 453 points to close at 12529. NSE Nifty lost 129 points to close at 3641.
Tech Mahindra declined nearly by 4% to Rs1436. According to reports the company may win a $250 million order from a European telecommunications company. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1475 and a low of Rs1411 and recorded volumes of over 14,00,000 shares on NSE.
BPCL was down 2.7% to Rs295. The company announced that they would acquire stake in North Sea oil blocks. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs358 and a low of Rs281 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on NSE.
Strides Arcolab pared its intra-day gains on back of selling pressure. The scrip fell by 0.4% to Rs328. The company received 2 NDA approvals from US FDA for two new drugs applications. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs334 and a low of Rs322.
Uttam Galva slipped 2% to Rs30. The company announced that it would raise long term Cold-rolled steel prices by 22%. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs31 and a low of Rs29 and recorded volumes of over 92,000 shares on NSE.
Banking stocks were the major losers, the index fell by over 4%. Frontline stock led the down fall ICICI Bank declined by over 5.5% to Rs829, SBI dropped 3.3% to Rs948 and HDFC Bank fell 2.8% to Rs932. Bank of India, OBC and Canara Bank were the major losers among the Mid-Cap stocks.
Auto stocks continued to be in reverse gear led by fall in the index heavy weights like Tata Motors which declined 3.8% to Rs743, Hero Honda dropped 3% to Rs677, M&M lost 1.5% to Rs749 and Maruti was down 1.2% to Rs791.
Metal stocks also lost their shine on back of selling pressure. SAIL was down 4.6% to Rs100, Tata Steel declined 3.3% to Rs429, Nalco dropped 1.2% to Rs228 and Hindalco slipped 1.8% to Rs128.
Telecom stocks also were under the bear attack. Bharti Airtel dropped by over 4.5% to Rs729, R Com was down by over 4.5% to Rs398, VSNL declined 3% to Rs365 and MTNL lost 2.2% to Rs138.