Nifty falls below 4,000

Stocks fell sharply today, ending a lackluster week of trading mired in uncertainty about the future of the US financial system. The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 445 points. Wary investors continued to unload shares across-the-board as news of the biggest ever US bank failure compounded the bearish sentiments, with the US government brokering a last-ditch purchase of thrift Washington Mutual by JPMorgan. The S&P CNX Nifty fell below the psychological 4,000 level.

Realty, metal and banking stocks slumped. Export-driven information technology stocks extended recent fall.

Weak US economic data also weighed on market sentiments. Data released overnight showed US-made durable goods fell 4.5% in August 2008, while sales of new homes in the US dropped 11.5% during the month. First-time jobless claims in the US rose to their highest count in seven years pointing to a slow down.

European stocks posted a steep decline as uncertainty persisted over the $700 billion US financial sector bailout plan. Key indices in UK, France and Germany were down 2.07% to 2.12%. Asian market, which opened before Indian market, ended in red. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 0.16% to 2.16%.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 445 points or 3.28% to 13,102.18. The index shed 492.76 points at the day’s low of 13,054.42 at the fag end of the trade. It was down 60.98 points at day’s high of 13,486.20, hit at the onset of trading session.

The S&P CNX Nifty was down 137.10 points or 3.34% to 3985.25. Nifty October 2008 futures were at 3984.50, at a discount of 0.75 points as compared to spot closing.

The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.99% at 4,940.82 and the BSE Small-Cap index fell 3.11% at 5,861.78. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was poor on BSE with 442 shares advancing as compared to 2172 that declined. 59 shares remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4835 crore as against Rs 5,070.61 crore on Thursday, 25 September 2008. NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 44297.14 crore, which was almost half of Rs 82697.69 crore on Thursday, 25 September 2008.