Bears drag market under par 17500

Global signals

European indices were trading lower, as banks slipped ahead of key earnings results, but Cadbury hit record highs after the British confectioner accepted a $19.2 billion takeover offer from Kraft. At the time of writing this report FTSE 100 was trading 0.84% lower.

Asian indices had a mixed closing on Tuesday as with exporters such as Honda Motor Co hurt by a stronger yen, while investors locked in profits in wake of a recent rally. Nikkei and Seoul Composite closed lower, while Shanghai Composite, Straits Times and Hang Seng closed marginally up. SGX Nifty closed 53 points lower.

Indian indices

The bears hit back strongly and triggered a major sell-off in the market today. Tracking weak Asian markets, the Sensex resumed the session 10 points higher at 17651 but continued to head south. The market moved in a range with a negative bias. Towards the close, it witnessed panic selling below 17500-mark to touch the day's low of 17464. The Sensex ended the session 155 points lower at 17486 whereas Nifty shed 49 points to close at 5226.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was extremely negative, with the losers outnumbering the gainers. Of the 2,994 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,828 stocks declined, 1,112 stocks advanced and 54 stocks ended unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Most of all the sectoral indices were battered. Among the major losers BSE Realty lost 1.75%, the BSE IT dropped 1.68%, BSE Teck shed 1.54%, BSE HC declined by 1.54%, BSE Oil & Gas index fell 1.47% and BSE Power slipped 0.88%. BSE Auto, BSE FMCG, BSE CG, BSE CG and BSE Metal closed in negative territory with marginal loss. Bucking the downtrend, BSE CD gained 0.74%, BSE Bankex advanced 0.44% and BSE PSU gains 0.39%.

Of the 30 Sensex stocks the table toppers were Bharat Heavy Electricals that gained 0.83%, State Bank of India that moved up 0.77%, and HDFC Bank which advanced 0.42% for the day. Among laggards, Hindalco Industries declined 3.11%, ACC tumbled 2.87%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries lost 2.45%, Grasim Industries moved down 2.40%, Tata Consultancy Services plunged 2.33% and DLF lost 2.08%.

Viewing volumes

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers drew interest with over 2.16 crore shares changing hands on BSE, followed by Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals (0.63 crore shares), Suzlon Energy India (0.53 crore shares), Unitech (0.52 crore shares), Hindustan Copper (0.51 crore shares) and Ispat Industries (0.44 crore shares).

Today's major news

ICICI Bank has raised deposit rates on select maturities by 25 basis points; the stock ends 0.01% higher.

GAIL to buy 4% in Myanmar-China project; the stock tumbles 3.01%.

Tata Steel-Sasol to set up CTL plant in Orissa; the stock declines 0.02%.

Ansal Properties and Infrastructure to invest Rs300 crore in an industrial park; the stock losses 2.51%.

HNG plans Rs350 crore flint glass plant in Andhra Pradesh; the stock closes 1.81% lower.