Markets end in deep red; Sensex down 288 points

The Indian markets witnessed a bloodbath led by heavy sell-off across the board, with the Sensex closing 288 points lower

Major headlines

Bank of Baroda Q3 net profit rises 28.5% yoy

Crompton Greaves Q3 consolidated net profit up 16% yoy

Bharat Electronics Q3 net profit dips 24% yoy



Indian indices

The Indian markets were butchered owing to relentless selling in all the sectors and also bleeding in heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC and L&T. Foreign money outflow could be another reason that sent the Nifty to break 5500-mark today for the first time since September 06, 2010. Negative European markets also spooked sentiments. Broader indices were badly hit as compared to benchmarks this week.

In Midcap space, Money Matters was locked at 5% upper circuit. Andhra Bank, Redington, Aventis Pharma and Shriram City were up 1-1.7%. However, Blue Star, Shree Global, SpiceJet, IVRCL Infrastructure and Cholamandalam lost 9-12.5%

In Smallcap space, Rollatainers, Urja Global, Newtime Infra, AP Paper Mills and Falcon Tyres went up 2.7-5%. However, Camlin, Autoline Industries, Ion Exchange, Sarda Energy and Aqua Logistics slipped 9-13.8%.

The Sensex started the session 25 points higher at 18709 and soon hit the day’s high of 18723. However from that level, the index slipped in the negative terrain and extended losses in the morning trade. Heavy sell-off in all sectors coupled with negative European markets led the Sensex to witness sharp cut in the afternoon session, hitting the day’s low of 18235.

The Sensex crashed 288 points to close at 18396 and the Nifty plunged 92 points to close at 5512.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was extremely weak as declining shares outdid rising ones over four times. Out of the 3,009 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,386 tumbled while 506 advanced. Whereas, 117 stocks traded unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

All the 13 sectoral indices ended in the negative zone. BSE Realty was the worst performer for the second consecutive day, down by 4.96%, followed by BSE Consumer Durables (CD) down by 3.91% and BSE Auto slipped by 3.56%. Rest of the indices fell in the range of 0.37-3.06%.

Looking in 'A' group stocks, Andhra Bank was the star performer of the day, rising by 4.47%, followed by Syndicate Bank up by 2.06% and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation gained by 1.89%. Top three losers were - Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) slid by 10.06%, IVRCL Infrastructure dropped by 8.71% and Jai Corp fell by 7.45%.

Viewing volumes

India’s second largest developer - Unitech was traded the most with over 0.66 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.47 crore shares), industrial finance company - IFCI (0.39 crore shares), hydro power firm - NHPC (0.36 crore shares) and Exide Industries (0.33 crore shares).

Global signals

European shares traded mixed, with mining shares under pressure. Investors remained cautious ahead of the US gross domestic product (GDP) data.

The major Asian markets ended lower except Shanghai Composite and Straits times.

The US stock index futures point to a negative start on the Wall Street ahead of the fourth quarter GDP data.

Market outlook: In the US, fourth quarter GDP data and consumer sentiment data will be out.