Sensex succumbs to savage selloff

Looks like things are only getting worse for the Indian market, at least for the moment, with no let-up in the bear onslaught throughout this week. Today particularly was a horrible day for the bulls amid a severe bloodbath across the board.



The non-index counters were yet again singled out for some savage treatment amid all the bad news surrounding alleged price manipulation in a few counters. India was by far the worst performer today, not only in Asia but perhaps across the world.

The market started flat, but the key Indices gradually kept losing ground as the session progressed. The big selling came somewhere around 2:00 PM and there was no respite whatsoever from that point. A bit of a recovery was seen in the dying minutes though.

If it wasn't for the gains in heavyweights like Infosys, Wipro and ITC, the losses for the two main indices would have been bigger. Today's fall was among the worst that one has seen in recent memory.

Finally, the BSE Sensex finished at 19,264, down 432 points or 2.2% over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day's low of 19,160 and a day's high of 19,771 after opening at 19,746.

The NSE Nifty closed at 5,766, down 137 points or 2.3% from the previous close. It had earlier touched a day's low of 5,742 and a day's high of 5,927 after opening at 5,924.

The BSE Small-cap index and the BSE Mid-cap index were down 6% and 4.4% respectively.

Reliance Infra, RCOM, Hindalco, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, JP Associate, Sterlite inds, RIL, L&T, M&M, Tata Steel, DLF, Bajaj Auto, Suzlon, RPower, Sesa Goa, SAIL, Power Grid and GAIL were the laggards in the sensex and teh Nifty.

Wipro, Infosys, Hero Honda, ITC, Axis Bank, PNB and BPCL were the notable gainser in the Sensex and the Nifty.

Outside the two main indices, the key losers are Glodyne Tech, Kiri Dyes, Marg, Sunteck Realty, Arshiya Intl, Gitanjali Gems, S Kumar Nation, Geodesic, Amtek Auto, ABG Shipyard, Hindustan Oil, Orchid Chem, Bartronics and Pantaloon Retl.

Amara Raja, IRB Infra, Castrol India, skar Bros, Zydus Wellness, GTL Infra, Sobha Dev, Wipro, Trent and Monnet Ispat were among the notable gainers in the broader market.

The market breadth on the BSE was negative with 2,493 shares falling and 406 shares falling.