Nifty ends tad below 5,000
Capital goods, IT and banking stocks amongst the worst hit
Indian benchmark indices ended over 2% down on Tuesday, amid weak cues from Europe, weighed down by selling pressure by institutional investors in capital goods, IT and banking shares. The Nifty plunged 114 points or 2.2% to close tad below the psychological level of 5,000 at 4,999.95 and the Sensex slumped 366 points or 2.2% to shut shop at 16,546.
For most part of the day markets traded on a weak note. However, post the opening of the European markets Indian equity markets nose dived in the late noon deals. Due to uncertainty over the implications of the Greek and French elections for Europe's efforts to resolve its debt crisis sent the euro and shares lower on Tuesday and supported safe-haven German government bonds. France's CAC40 index was down 62 points or 2% at 3,152, DAX slipped 75 points to 3,152 and the FTSE was trading lower by 18 points at 5,637 levels.
The Asian markets ended mixed with the Nikkei ending up 0.7% while the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng ended marginally down.
Back home, selling was visible across the board in trades today. Capital goods, banking and IT stocks were amongst the worst hit. The BSE capital goods index slipped 3.4% or 318 points to close at 8,935 levels on the concerns of slowdown in order inflows. Punj Lloyd, BHEL, Praj Industries, Crompton Greaves, Larsen & Toubro, Suzlon Energy and AIA Engineering were the top losers from this space.
IT index lost 3% or 176 points to close at 5,533 after the IT industry heavyweight Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp revised its 2012 guidance downwards by nearly $200 million (around Rs 1,066 crore today), due to a slower than anticipated acceleration in demand. This lead to the widespread selling in the domestic IT companies. TCS, Wipro and Infosys closed lower by 2-6% each.
BSE banking index- bankex slipped 322 points to shut shop at 11,051. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of India, Indusind Bank and IDBI Bank were among the top losers from this space.
Teck, power, FMCG, auto, realty, consumer durables, healthcare, oil & gas and PSU indices also ended lower by 0.6-2.6% each.
From the Sensex pack, ITC, Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Power, Mahindra & Mahuindra, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Reliance Industries and maruti Suzuki also closed lower by 1-5% each. While, DLF ended higher on reports that the company is planning to sell around 51% stake in its life insurance joint venture - DLF Pramerica Life - to HCL Group for about Rs 500 crore. Coal India, Gail India, Hindalco and HUL were also among the gainers.
The broader markets were in line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index slipped 1.3% or 78 points to close at 6,053 and the small-cap index slipped 57 points to 6,550 levels.
The overall breadth was negative as 1,688 stocks declined while 1,052 stocks advanced.