Sensex tanks 491 pts at close; Realty worst hit

It was a disappointing day for Indian markets as the Sensex slumped over 491 points weighed by realty, metal, oil & gas, power and IT stocks. Broader markets added fuel to the sentiment, mirroring weak global sentiments.

The Sensex opened on a bearish note with a loss of 57.65 points, at 15,838.63 on Tuesday tracking weak Asian markets. It traded in a volatile manner moving in and out of the red line and was nearing 16,000 mark. Later, the index slipped into red on profit booking. As the day progressed, the benchmark index plunged further on the back of intense selling by funds influenced by weak opening in European markets amid disappointing results by leading firms.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index plunged 3.74% and 4.50% respectively.

European stocks dropped as UBS reported a wider-than-estimated loss and Australia raised interest rates for the second time in four weeks. UBS declined more than 3% as Switzerland`s largest bank posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 fell 108.12 points, or 2.12%, to trade at 4,996.38. French benchmark index CAC 40 declined 83.32 points or 2.29% to trade at 3,556.13. Germany`s benchmark index DAX lost 112.68 points or 2.07% to trade at 5,318.14 (3.50 p.m., IST)

Asian stocks fell, led by banks and energy companies, as UBS and Suzlon Energy posted wider- than-estimated losses amid investor concern the withdrawal of stimulus measures will cause the global recovery to falter. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index fell 380.13 points, or 1.76%, to close at 21,240.06. China`s Shanghai Composite rose 37.58 points, or 1.22% to settle at 3,114.23.

The Sensex ended the day with a loss of 491.34 points, or 3.09% at 15,404.94 after touching a high of 15,957.06 and a low of 15,330.56. The broad-based NSE Nifty fell 147.80 points, or 3.14% at 4,563.90 after hitting a high of 4,729.85 and a low of 4,538.50.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Bharti Airtel (2.67%), Maruti Suzuki India (1.13%), and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (0.31%).

On the other hand, Hindalco Industries (10.50%), DLF (9.04%), Jaiprakash Associates (7.52%), Reliance Capital (7.05%), Sterlite Industries (India) (6.40%), and ACC (6.20%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was sharply negative. Out of the total 2,761 stocks traded at BSE, 534 advanced, 2,171 declined while 56 remained unchanged.

All sectoral indices settled negative. BSE Realty was hammered badly. The counter fell 9.76%, Metal lost 5.95%, Oil & Gas lost 4.1%, Power fell 3.49% and IT fell 3.44%.