Market loses ground in broad-based decline

n a complete reversal of the trend, the market lost ground in late trade from an initial surge to a record high. The decline was across the board. Consumer durables, FMCG and metal stocks were the worst hit. ICICI Bank survived the fall.

The market breadth, which was positive in the early trade, turned weak in the early afternoon trade. 2 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in red. Asian markets, which opened before Indian markets, were mostly in the red. European markets, which opened after Indian markets, were mixed.

Policy meetings of European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) are due later today. Analysts expect ECB to hold interest rates steady at 4% but see the BoE cutting rates due to weak consumption that has sparked fears of a slowdown in the economy. The next Fed rates decision is due on 30 January 2008. Fed is expected to cut rates by at least 25 basis points.

The 30-share BSE Sensex provisionally ended 292.73 points or 1.40% lower at 20577.05. Sensex touched a low of 20,530.07 at the fag end of the trading session. At day’s low, Sensex shed 339.71. Sensex touched a high of 21,206.77 in mid-morning trade, a record high. At day’s high, Sensex gained 336.99.

The broader CNX S&P Nifty provisionally ended down 111.20 points or 1.77% to 6160.80.

The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 3.46% to 9,431.98. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 3.88% to 12,851.58.

The market breadth was weak on BSE with 365 shares advancing as compared to 2530 that declined. 17 remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 9068 crore compared to Wednesday (9 January 2008)'s Rs 9669 crore.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries shed 0.39% to Rs 3020.

India’s largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank galloped 3.48% to Rs 1356 on reports the bank will list at least 4 arms starting with ICICI Securities in next 6 months though board is yet to decide on securities arm listing.

India’s second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies fell 4.08% to Rs 1591.

Hindalco Industries slipped 4.56% to Rs 203, Tata Steel shed 4.10% to Rs 854, NTPC gave away 3.99% to Rs 266.10, Reliance Energy skid 4.06% to Rs 2461.25, and ACC fell 3.61% to Rs 935.

The BSE Metal index fell 2.60% to 18,918.88, the BSE Consumer Durables index fell 3.48% to 6,366.74 and the BSE FMCG index fell 2.89% to 2,418.73.

in Europe, UK's FTSE 100 Index was almost flat at 6,273. Germany's DAX Index was down 0.01%

Asian shares fell on worries about global growth after Goldman Sachs forecast a US recession this year. Japan's Nikkei was down 1.45%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.39%, South Korea's Seoul Composite was down 1.07% and Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted index was down 0.34%. However, China's Sanghai Composite was up 0.38%.

US stocks rose on Wednesday, 9 January 2008, and the Nasdaq broke an eight-day losing streak, as talk of recession pushed investors into health care and other defensive sectors seen as resistant to a slowdown. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 146.24 points, or 1.16%, at 12,735.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 18.94 points, or 1.36%, at 1,409.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 34.04 points, or 1.39%, at 2,474.55.