Post Session: Sensex tumbles 266 pts on global cues; RIL dips 5%

The Indian equities continued its losing streak on Monday and settled in the negative terrain amid selling in front line blue chip coupled with a sharp fall in crude oil prices and commodity prices. The market sentiments were also dented by the export data which showed that India’s exports shrunk for a thirteenth straight month, falling 14.75 per cent in December from a year earlier. The 30-share BSE SENSEX closed at 24188.37, down by 266.67 points or by 1.09 per cent, and the NSE Nifty ended 86.8 points lower at 7351. In the bearish trade today, the BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 24524.85 and intraday low of 24141.99, while the NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 7463.65 and intraday low of 7336.4.

The broader market continued to witness hefty selling, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap Index, dropped in nine out of last 11 trading sessions. The BSE MIDCAP closed at 10062.35, down by 281.38 points or by 2.72 per cent, while the BSE SMLCAP ended at 10345.81, down by 437.07 points or by 4.053 per cent.

On the sectoral front, oil&gas ended the session 3.43 per cent lower with RIL slipping on the back of falling crude oil prices. Following the oil&gas index, realty stocks emerged as other laggards, falling 3.16 per cent.

Leading the decline on BSE Sensex pack were Reliance Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1018.00,-5.14%), Bajaj Auto Ltd. (Rs. 2249.60,-3.67%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 850.60,-3.29%), Cipla Ltd. (Rs. 590.85,-2.72%), Coal India Ltd. (Rs. 311.45,-2.12%), among others.

Meanwhile, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Rs. 142.35,+4.29%), Tata Steel Ltd. (Rs. 236.25,+2.76%), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (Rs. 2282.45,+0.84%), Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (Rs. 810.60,+0.80%), Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (Rs. 2443.00,+0.73%), were among top gainers on BSE.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 3041, shares advanced were 394 while 2491 shares declined and 156 were unchanged.

On the global front, the Asian equities ended lower on Monday as fears over the health of the world economy and tumbling oil prices fueled worries over disinflation, hitting investor mood. China’s Shanghai Composite rebounded nearly 0.40 per cent, paring early losses, while Hang Seng tumbled over 1.5 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 also slid 1 per cent amid caution ahead of industrial output data.