Market slips for fourth day in a row

Market lost ground as selling pressure persisted throughout the day, following a sharp decline in overseas markets. Banking, metal and telecom stocks were the worst hit in today's fall. Index heavyweights ended in the red. Select metal stocks surged in an otherwise weak market.

Data showing fall in inflation to a lowest level in over 5 years failed to lift bourses. The wholesale price index rose 2.97% in the 12 months 27 October 2007, below the previous week's rise of 3.02% and its lowest in more than five years, government data released today afternoon showed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex provisionally ended down 217.36 points or 1.13% at 19,072.47. It touched a low of 18,917.40 in late trade. At day's low of 18,917.40, Sensex had lost 372.43 points.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty was down 71.85 points or 1.24% at 5710.50, as per provisional data on NSE.

The market declined for a fourth day in a row today.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 6734 crore, compared to Wednesday (7 November 2007)'s Rs 6,873.70 crore.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.86% at 7,917.25, while the BSE Small-Cap index was lower by 0.96% at 9,601.97.

The market breadth was negative. On BSE, 1002 shares advanced, while 1698 declined and 74 shares were unchanged. 21 out of 30 shares fell on Sensex.

Hindalco Industries soared 9.86% to Rs 207.25, ACC gained 2.65% to Rs 1055, Hindustan Unilever 1.85% to Rs 195.10 and Ranbaxy Laboratories moved up 1.01% to 431.70.

Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.85% to Rs 2740. RIL has reportedly bagged two oil blocks in Iraq’s troubled Kurdish region. Infosys Technologies lost 1.37% to Rs 1720.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation slumped 4.20% to Rs 1235.10, HDFC bank slipped 3.70% to Rs 1559.80, State bank of India skid 3.64% to Rs 2185, Reliance Communication gave away 2.72% to Rs 708 and ICICI bank slid 2.81% to Rs 1170.

Reliance Capital moved up 7.87% to Rs 2066.10, Adlab Films jumped 5.29% to Rs 896 and Reliance Energy gained 0.65% to Rs 1831. Reliance Natural Resources was down 0.30% to Rs 150.60 on huge volumes of 3.32 crore shares on BSE.

Colgate Palmolive India gained 1.54% to Rs 388.35. The company has reportedly acquired 75% equity in Advanced Oral Care Products Private, Professional Oral Care Products Private and SS Oral Hygiene Products Private, which have been manufacturing toothpaste and supplying it to Colgate.

Indian Oil Corporation was up 2.10% to Rs 513.50. The company reportedly plans to increase crude oil imports from Nigeria by 50% to 3 million tonnes a year. The state-owned company is also looking to start refining and petrochemical ventures in Nigeria and other African countries, the report said.

Asian and European markets fell today as investors sold financial shares on credit worries after Wall Street tumbled on Wednesday as a probe of the home loan industry by New York's attorney general drew in the country's biggest mortgage finance companies.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 was down 0.99% at 5,627.11, Germany’s DAX was down 0.22% at 7,782.24 and UK’s FTSE 100 was down 0.49% at 6,354.10.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 3.19% to 28,760.22, Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 2.02% to 15,771.57, South Korea’s Seoul Composite lost 3.11% to 1,979.56 and Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted fell 3.90% to 8,937.58.

The sell-off in stocks started on Wall Street on Wednesday, 7 November 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average sank 360.92 points, or 2.64% on Wednesday, 7 November 2007, to end at 13,300.02.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 44.65 points, or 2.94%, to 1,475.62 -- the index's worst percentage drop since 9 Aug 2007, when French bank BNP Paribas spooked global markets by freezing three funds due to subprime fears. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 76.42 points to 2,748.76. General Motors added to the gloom by posting its biggest-ever quarterly loss due in part to a deeper-than-expected loss at former finance subsidiary GMAC.