Sensex slumps 300 points…hits 5-months low

The bear onslaught continues on Dalal Street, with the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty falling for the fifth successive trading session. Also, the Sensex briefly fell below 18,000 in intraday day trading, which was for the first time since August 31, 2010. It was yet another day of heavy offloading across the board, as all the BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Realty, Auto, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and FMCG stocks were among the top laggards.



The broader indices continued to lose ground. The BSE Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap lost 1.6% and 1.4% respectively. Today’s sharp selloff was seen despite positive cues from the Asian and the European markets. US markets had also finished higher on Monday.

"After a brief relief at start, the market resumed its descent as the undertone continues to be fragile amid spiraling inflation, hardening borrowing costs, FII selling and political stalemate. Budget will be the next big trigger and all eyes are on whether the Government takes any bold measures to sustain the high growth momentum and rein in inflation, says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex lost 305 points to close at 18,022 and the NSE Nifty was down 89 points to end at 5,417.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Realty index was the top loser, the index lost 4%, BSE Auto was down 3% and BSE Capital Goods index was down 2.5%. The BSE Mid-Cap index lost 1.6% and BSE Small-Cap index 1.4%.

The European indices were in the green, the DAX in Germany was up 0.1%, and the CAC 40 index in France was up 0.8% and FTSE index was up 0.5%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Jain Irrigation, Jet Airways, GVK Power, JP Hydro and TVS Motors. On the other hand, gainers included Apollo Tyres, Fortis, Nalco and RCF.