Market witness worst trading day of 2013; Sensex falls 300 pts

Weak global environment and profit booking in index heavyweights led to a severe fall in the Indian markets today. The Sensex lost 317 points and the Nifty fell 91 points. Major Headlines: ABB Q4 net profit declines by 74% Gold records new 7 month low at Rs29,305 ONGC in talks to buy Videocon stake in Mozambique field Indian indices Today the Dalal Street witnessed its worst trading day of 2013. The domestic markets remained weak led by decline in the global markets and a sharp crack in major sectors. There was no respite for the Indian markets today due to European jitters, depreciation in rupee, gold hitting seven month low and worries that the US Federal Reserve could wind down its bond-buying programme. Equities across the globe witnessed heavy sell-off pressure as the investors moved towards less riskier assets. The market breadth stood extremely weak. The broader indices too were in red. Weakness persisted in majority of the sectors and heavyweights like ICICI Bank, RIL, HDFC Bank, ITC, L&T, ONGC, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and SBI also added to the downfall. The BSE benchmark broke the 19,350 level While NSE Nifty fell below 5,860 levels on tremendous selling pressure. Movement of the Indian indices for the day: The Indian markets started today's trade on a negative note. The markets were under pressure throughout the day as its global peers were unsupportive. Indian equity benchmarks as well as broader markets were caught in a bear grip today. The markets traded lower right from the opening bell and remained under pressure on account of profit booking. At the closing bell, the BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index fell nearly 2% each. The NSE Nifty headed towards its biggest fall since July 23, 2013 and closed its lowest level since December 21, 2012.The BSE Sensex dropped 1.62% and NSE Nifty was down by 1.53%, heading towards their biggest single day fall since October 8, 2012. The BSE Sensex posted its biggest fall since May 2012 as bank shares such as ICICI Bank fell a day after RBI data showed loan growth was still a concern and on weakness in global shares due to concerns over Fed slowing its bond buying program. Indian gold buying rose on Thursday (February 21, 2013) after prices in the world's biggest consumer fell to their lowest in seven months at Rs29,305, in line with the global market, and denting government plans to make the metal expensive by levying a higher import duty. Adding further the Budget session of Parliament began today (February 21, 2013) with the United Progressive Alliance government set to face a stiff challenge because of the controversies surrounding the chopper deal. On the currency front, the rupee slipped by 42 paise to 54.50 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market hurt by risk-off sentiment. The fall was due to sustained demand for the US currency from importers. The Sensex closed at 19,325, down by 317.39 points and the Nifty fell 90.80 points to settle at 5,852.25 in trade today. Following are the stocks/ sectors which were in news today: 1. Videocon Industries gained after the consumer electronics and Oil Company said that it is in talks to sell its 10% stake in an oil and gas block off the coast of Mozambique and Tanzania. The stock was up by 5.52% in today’s trade. 2. ABB dropped after its quarterly net profit fell 73.43% to Rs17 crore on 5.39% decline in revenue to Rs2053 crore in Q4 December 2012 over Q4 December 2011. The stock was down by 4.50% in today’s trade. 3. SKS Microfinance declined as insurance regulator IRDA imposed Rs50 lakh penalty on the company which collected extra funds, apart from the premium, as a corporate insurance agent without proper disclosure to policy-holders. The stock was down by 4.29% in today’s trade. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of declines. Of the 2,961 stocks traded on the BSE, 904 (30.53%) rose, 1,929 (65.15%) fell and 128 (4.32%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices, only one sector closed in green BSE CD marginally up by 0.04%. The top most losers were - BSE Metal slipped by 3.23%, BSE Bankex dipped by 2.52% and BSE Realty fell by 2.33%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- Videocon Industries rose by 5.25%, CRISIL up by 2.04% and Godrej Consumer Products gained by 1.22%. Top three losers were- Shriram Transport Finance Company declined by 7.72%, Sun TV Network down by 7.21% and United Breweries fell by 5.91%. Global signals: Asian markets ended lower in trade today as China ordered increased property curbs amid talks of a hedge fund liquidating big positions in commodities. European markets opened lower on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve minutes suggested the central bank may stop printing the money that has helped to drive the recent rally in equities sooner than expected. US stock index futures pointed towards a lower opening at the Wall Street on Thursday.