Sensex slumps 621 points in three trading sessions

Bears ruled the roost for the third day in a row today, pulling the Sensex down 338 points. The barometer index has tanked 621 points in the last three trading sessions. Weak global markets triggered fall on the domestic bourses today. The market remained weak throughout the trading session.

Banking stocks declined ahead of the weekly inflation data. Power stocks fell Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL), Reliance Infrastructure fell more than 4% each. Tata Power Company and ONGC fell more than 3.5% each. The market breadth was weak.

Asian markets ended down on continued worries about the credit crisis after Lehman Brothers failed to announce any firm deals to raise desperately needed capital after posting record quarterly loss on Wednesday, 10 September 2008. US markets ended with modest gains on Wednesday, 10 September 2008.

The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 338.32 points or 2.31% to 14,324.29. At the day’s low of 14,265.38 hit in late trade, the Sensex fell 397.23 points. At the day’s high of 14,557.33 hit in early trade, the Sensex fell 105.28 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty slipped 109.95 points or 2.5% to 4,290.30.

The BSE Sensex has shed 620.68 points in the past three trading sessions from a recent high of 14,944.97 on 8 September 2008. The barometer index is down 5,962.7 points or 29.39% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 6,882.48 points or 32.45% away from its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.

Nifty September 2008 futures were at 4300.35, at a premium of 10.05 points as compared to spot closing of 4290.30.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4776 crore, compared to Wednesday's Rs 5,185.84 crore. NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 50,366.39 crore, which was lower than Rs 52,717.79 crore on Wednesday, 10 September 2008.

The market breadth was weak on BSE with 1,786 shares declining as compared to 853 that advanced. 75 remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 28 declined while the rest gained.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.08% to 5,647.41 and BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.22% to 6,818.93.

BSE Oil & Gas index (down 3.39% to 9,339.74), BSE Power index (down 2.97% to 2,576.42), BSE Realty index (down 2.48% to 4,875.83), BSE Capital Goods index (down 2.39% to 11,941) underperformed Sensex.

BSE IT index (down 0.91% to 3,990.44), BSE Auto index (down 0.97% to 3,961.44), BSE FMCG index (down 1.19% to 2,211.48), BSE HealthCare index (down 1.4% to 4,182.23), BSE Metal index (down 1.45% to 10,991.79), BSE Bankex (down 1.57% to 7,210.66), BSE Teck index (down 1.71% to 3,045.40), BSE Consumer Durables index (down 1.8% to 3,622.46) and BSE PSU index (down 2.15% to 6,740.25) outperformed Sensex.

India’s largest private sector firm in terms of market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 4.13% to Rs 1,997.60 extending losses for the second straight day, spooked by reports the Prime Minister’s Office may recommend levy of export tax or ban petroleum exports from its refineries in Jamnagar.

Banking pivotals fell ahead of inflation data to be announced by the government after market hours today, 11 September 2008. ICICI Bank (down 2.01% to Rs 686.45), State Bank of India (down 1.7% to Rs 1,538.45) and HDFC Bank (down 1.9% to Rs 1,252.70) edged lower.

Annual inflation rose 12.34% in the year through 23 August 2008, lower than previous week’s 12.40% rise, data released by the government after trading hours on Thursday, 4 September 2008 showed.

Reliance Infrastructure (down 4.15% to Rs 992), Tata Power Company (down 3.53% to Rs 1,012.10), Reliance Power (down 0.68% to Rs 168.60) edged lower.

National Thermal Power Corporation fell 2.67% to Rs 173.45. The company today, 11 September 2008, said it has formed a joint venture company with Bihar State Electricity Board under the name Nabinagar Power Generating Company for setting-up of a coal based power project having capacity of 1980 megawatt.

ONGC (down 3.82% to Rs 1,035.45), DLF (down 3.28% to Rs 485.55), Jaiprakash Associates (down 3.25% to Rs 162.35), Mahindrs & Mahindra (down 3% to Rs 560.15) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Tata Consultancy Services, India's top software services exporter fell 1.77% to Rs 836.10. The company said on Wednesday it will partner with Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab for an aeronautical design and development centre.

Bharti Airtel, India's biggest cellular services provider in terms of market capitalisation, fell 4.4% to Rs 776.20. Bharti Airtel launched a venture fund today with an initial Rs 200 crore ($44 million) to promote content and technology development.

Sterlite Industries fell 1.01% to Rs 502.75. From a recent high of Rs 622.35 on 8 September 2008 the stock had plunged 18.38% to Rs 507.90 on 10 September 2008 after the Vedanta group on Tuesday, 9 September 2008 announced a restructuring to simplify its corporate structure into three commodity-focused groups: copper and zinc-lead, aluminium-energy and iron ore.

IFCI clocked the highest volume of 1.52 crore shares on BSE. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (1 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (86.99 lakh shares), Austral Coke Projects (67.31 lakh shares) and Reliance Petroleum (67.2 lakh shares) were the other volume toppers in that order.

Reliance Industries clocked the highest turnover of Rs 478.91 crore on BSE. Reliance Capital (Rs 240.70 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 165.73 crore), Austral Coke Projects (Rs 162.14 crore) and Larsen & Toubro (Rs 145.88 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order.

European markets edged lower today, 11 September 2008. France’s CAC 40, Germany’s DAX and UK’s FTSE 100 were down by between 0.78% to 1.15%.

Asian markets were trading lower today, 11 September 2008. China's Shanghai Composite, Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted, Singapore's Straits Times, and South Korea's Seoul Composite were down between 1.48% to 3.34%.

US markets finished with modest gains on Wednesday, 10 September 2008 after rallying earlier on a drop in oil prices. The nervousness was due to investor worries about financial shares like Lehman Brothers. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 38.19 points, or 0.34%, to 11,268.92. The S&P 500 index advanced 7.53 points, or 0.61%, to 1,232.04, and the Nasdaq Composite index added 18.89 points, or 0.85%, to 2,228.70.