Freak Day...Nifty ends below 200DMA

It was a freak day for the Indian markets as an alleged trading error in index bellwether Reliance Industries spooked the sentiment in afternoon trade. Also undermining the mood was renewed weakness in global markets amid worries about China’s slowing economy and BP’s inability to plug the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, the euro re-tested a four year low against the dollar after the European Central Bank said yesterday there may be more bank losses as the credit crisis spreads.

"The NSE Nifty lost over 100 points in a single trading session after rising by close to 300 points in the last four sessions. The Nifty reversed sharply from its 100DMA and closed below its long term moving average (200DMA)" says Amar Ambani, Vice President Research IIFL.

In a bizarre turn of events, shares of Reliance Industries were seen hitting an intra-day low of Rs840 on the BSE, where nearly 0.5mn shares were offloaded in a freak trade. Finally, the BSE 30-share Sensex slipped 372 points at 16,572 and NSE Nifty fell 116 points at 4,970.

Markets in Asia ended in the red; the Nikkei in Japan fell by 0.6%, Australia's S&P/ASX slipped by 0.3% and while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 1.3%.

European indices were trading in the red as well, the DAX in Germany was down 1.7%, the CAC 40 index in France was down 2.5% and the FTSE in the UK was down 2.2%.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the negative terrain, BSE Metal index was the top loser, the index was down 4%, followed by BSE Realty index was down 3% and BSE Oil & Gas index was down 2.5%. Even the BSE Mid-Cap index ended loser by 1.3% and the Small-Cap index edged lower by 1%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Fortis Healthcare, Century Tex, Bhushan Steel and Indian Bank. On the other hand, gainers included Chambal Fert, Container Corp, Renuka Sugars and Madras Cement.