Nifty below 5k, Sensex down over 550pts

The markets continued to reel under intense selling pressure in the noon deals owing to concerns regarding the global debt crisis. The Sensex plunged 450 points to 16,614 and the Nifty was trading below the 5K levels at 4,996, lower by 137 points.

The markets across the world were trading on a weak note after the US Federal Reserve made it official that there were significant downside risks to the economy even as it launched a new plan, 'Operation Twist',  to reduce long-term borrowing costs.

Meanwhile, the European markets have also opened on a weak note. The CAC 40 index opened lower by 2.8% at 2,851, FTSE opened at 5,142, down 2.7% and the DAX opened at 5,245, down 3.5%.

Back home, all the Sensex stocks were trading in the red. Sterlite Industries was the top loser, down 5.5% to Rs 127, Jindal Steel lost 4.7% to Rs 530. JP Associates, Tata Motors, DLF, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Hindalco, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto were trading weaker by 2.7%-4.5% each in trades thus far.

All the sectoral indices were bleeding in the red. Realty, metal, auto, banking and capital goods stocks were amongst the worst hit. BSE Realty index slipped 3.8% or 70 points to 1,767. Metal index slipped 443 points or 3.6% to 11,874. Auto and Bankex indices also slipped nearly 3% each. Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, IT, FMCG, Consumer Durables and Healthcare index were also trading lower by 1.2%-2.6% each.

HDIL was the top loser among the realty stocks, down over 5% to Rs 106. DB Realty, Indiabulls Realestate, Unitech, DLF, Anant Raj Industries, Parsvanath Developers, Godrej Properties, Prestige Estates and Oberoi Realty were trading lower by 4-5% each. Among the metal stocks JSW Steel, SAIL, Sesa Goa, Bhushan Steel, Hindustan Zinc and Coal India were among the prominent losers.

The broader markets also slipped 2% each. the BSE mid-cap index was at 6,344, down 132 points and the small-cap index was down 148 points at 7,204.

The overall breadth was extremely poor as 1,959 stocks were declining while a mere 622 stocks were advancing on the BSE.