Sensex down for 4th day, closes 112 points lower

The Indian markets extended fall for the fourth day, with the Sensex closing 112 points lower and the Nifty declining by 39 points

Headlines for the day

Monnet Ispat surges on buyback plan

Orchid Chemicals receives sanction for $100 mn via ECB

Kingfisher grounds 15 planes; banks working with airline

DQE sells broadcasting rights for Chaplin & Co



Indian indices

The Indian markets erased more than 50% of its losses in the mid-afternoon session led by recovery in the European equities and some buying in oil & gas, FMCG, auto stocks. Overall the sentiments remained bearish as Belgium's credit rating was cut, France's outlook was lowered and six other eurozone members were put on downgrade watch. News that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had died also weighed on the sentiments.

During the day, the markets had touched a fresh two-year low on the back of heavy selling in capital goods, banking, realty, power and PSU stocks. The markets closed the trade lower for the fourth consecutive day.

Sensex movements: Weak Asian cues dragged the Sensex 51 points lower at 15440 in the opening trade as compared with its previous close of 15491. The index stayed lower, extending losses and hit an intraday low of 15191 on all-round selling in the afternoon session. From the lower level, the index began to trim losses on the back of positive European cues and some buying at lower levels. The Sensex fell 112 points to settle at 15379 and the Nifty declined by 39 points to close at 4613.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood terribly weak. Of the 2883 stocks traded on the BSE, 726 (25.18%) rose, 2066 (71.66%) fell and 91 (3.16%) remained unchanged.

Viewing volumes

Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy was traded the most, with over 0.55 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that, a sugar making company - Shree Renuka Sugars (0.41 crore shares), India's largest automobile company – Tata Motors (0.34 crore shares), India's second largest developer – Unitech (0.27 crore shares) and an integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech (0.25 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

Among the 13 sectoral indices, ten closed lower. Top losers - BSE CG fell by 3.48%, BSE Bankex slipped by 3.08% and BSE Realty dropped by 2.89%. Three gainers - BSE Oil & Gas gained by 0.96%, BSE FMCG advanced by 0.61% and BSE Auto up by 0.22%.

Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers - Redington India shot up by 6.05%, Shree Renuka Sugar surged by 5.43% and Tata Motors up by 4.44%. Top three losers — Bata India fell by 11.19%, Wockhardt slid by 9.96% and Allahabad Bank dropped by 7.27%.

Global indices

The European shares rose on Monday (December 19, 2011) supported by defensive stocks as worries about global growth, after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and a warning from Fitch about possible credit downgrades kept investors from riskier cyclical sectors.

The Asian stocks fell on Monday, hurt by news that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had died and as worries over Europe's debt crisis increased after Fitch Ratings warned of possible downgrades for seven European nations.

The US Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on the Wall Street on Monday.

Market Outlook:

US Housing Market Index will be released on Monday.