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| Market ends volatile day with a 200-point loss |
| BS Reporter / Mumbai Oct 22, 2009, 00:48 IST |
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The day’s market proceedings were marked by choppiness and volatility, in the absence of any distinct cues from either the US or Asian markets.
The US markets had retreated from 12-month highs on Tuesday, on disappointing housing and inflation data.
The Dow Jones dropped 50.71 points or 0.5 per cent, to end at 10,041. And the Nasdaq shed 13 points or 0.59 per cent to close at 2,163. The Asian markets were lacklustre, with the Hang Seng slipping 32 points to 22,353 and the Nikkei virtually unchanged at 10,337.
And the Indian markets followed. The Sensex did open higher at 17,414 and the Nifty started flat at 5,114, only to slip immediately.
And from there on, it was choppy till afternoon, albeit within a narrow range. The markets made feeble attempts at a bounceback in the first two hours, only to be dragged by the force of gravity.
Volatility haunted the markets in the afternoon session, in the backdrop of a weak European opening. The Sensex broke the 17,000 mark at one point, falling almost vertically to touch the day’s low of 16,997 and the Nifty nosediving to 5,051.
The Sensex finally ended the day with a loss of 214 points at 17,009 and the Nifty closed at 51 points at 5,064.
The BSE auto, FMCG and Bankex took a rap. Autos shed 2.36 per cent, FMCG was down 2.06 per cent and banks dropped 2 per cent. Tata Steel shed 4.3 per cent to Rs 551.
Jaiprakash Associates and Tata Motors dropped 45 each to Rs 254 and Rs 556, respectively. SBI and HDFC slipped 3.5 per cent each to Rs 2,381 and Rs 2,682, respectively. ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Grasim and Hindustan Unilever also declined.
IT and realty stocks however bucked the trend. The IT stocks gained on the back of a declining rupee, with TCS rising 2 per cent to Rs 633 and Infosys adding over 1 per cent to Rs 2,211.
Tata Power and Bharti Airtel also added around 1 per cent to Rs 1,430 and Rs 332, respectively.
The market breadth was understandably negative. Out of 2,835 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,564 stocks declined, as against 1,178 advances.
Manish Sonthalia, Portfolio Manager, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, “The markets could correct 10 per cent from current levels. The correction would happen across the board and the sooner it happens, the better it is for the markets. The 15,500 mark would be an important level for the Sensex.”
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