Sensex, Nifty spooked by late sell-off

The benchmark Indian stock indices fell to the lowest level in the past two months as investors dumped stocks left, right and center in the wake of the housing loan scam.

The late selling could have been amplified due to the F&O expiry for the month of November. India was the worst performing market in Asia even as other regional indices extended the previous session’s recovery.



The NSE Nifty slipped from a day’s high of 6338 to a low of 5780 today. The day belonged to the bears again as investors remained jittery about the fallout of the string of scams on the market sentiment.

"The selling in the Indian market extended to a third straight day, with high beta stocks like Real Estate, Capital Goods, Metals, Oil & Gas and Banks bearing the brunt of the sour mood. On the other hand, IT stocks bucked the negative trend and emerged unscathed from the bear assault", says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex fell 142 points to close at 19,318 and the NSE Nifty lost 66 points to close at 5,799.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Realty index was the top loser the index lost 5.4%, followed by BSE Capital Goods index fell 2.8% and the BSE PSU index slipped 2.6%. The broader indices also ended in red as well, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down by 2% and BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.8%.

The European indices were trading mixed, the DAX in Germany was up 0.2%, the CAC 40 index in France was down 0.4% and FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2%.

Outside the two main indices, the key losers were India Infoline, Hindustan Const, D B REALTY, HDIL, IRB Infra, Orbit Corp, Godrej Inds, Suzlon Energy, Dewan Housing, BGR Energy, Educomp Sol, Ahluwalia Contracts, Syndicate Bank, PTC India, Ashapura Mine, Ackruti City, Anant Raj Inds, PNB, JK Cement, Unitech and REC

Simplex Infra, Central Bank, Shree Ashtavina, Mcleod Russel, Birla Corp, SKS Microfinance, GTL Infra, Apollo Tyres, Mcnally Bharat, EID Parry, Bata India and Great Offshore were among the notable gainers in the broader market.