Sensex succumbs to global sell-off

The Indian markets ended in the negative terrain, tracking weak cues from the international equity markets as the political turmoil in the Middle East continued to worsen, sending oil prices sharply higher. Also, Japanese shares fell after Moody’s cuts its outlook to negative from stable. Sentiment is also edgy ahead of the F&O expiry on Thursday and the Union Budget on Feb. 28.



It was a volatile trading session for the Indian markets today with the NSE Nifty swinging over 80 points intraday while the BSE Sensex gyrating over 250 points between intra-day high and low. The turnover crossed the Rs2 lakh crores mark today.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries was in focus today on the back of the multi-billion-dollar deal with UK oil & gas major BP. The stock saw whipsaw trading in the latter half of trade. After surging as much as 5%, the stock was unable to hold on to its early gains. It eventually ended below Rs. 1000 levels, rising 3% over the previous close.

Barring the Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables index all the other major sectoral indices on the BSE ended in the red. The BSE Capital Goods, Auto and Banking stocks were among the major laggards.

"After last week’s spirited pull-back, the market has not been able to break new grounds, notwithstanding Monday’s late surge. The undertone is still jittery owing to the ongoing CBI probe into the 2G scam, policy stalemate, high inflation and hardening interest rates. The Centre has formally announced JPC into the 2G scam, but that was already factored in by the markets. Now all eyes are on the Union Budget to see what steps the government takes to support the Indian growth story," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex lost 142 points to end at 18,296 and the NSE Nifty slipped by 49 points to close at 5,469.

The European markets were also trading in the red, the FTSE index was down 1.2%, CAC index was down 1.4% and DAX index was down 0.5%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Jet Airways, Motherson Sumi, Idea, Sun Tv and Thermax. On the other hand, gainers included Jai Corp, Titan, GSPL and Renuka Sugars.