Sensex down over 450pts, IT and Metal stocks worst hit

The markets continued to reel under intense selling pressure on the back of negative global cues and slowdown in the industrial production.

The Sensex was down 458 points or 2.7% to 16,415 and the S&P CNX Nifty shed 140 points to 4,918 at 1330 hours.

According to Shrikant Chouhan, Senior Vice President (Technical Research), Kotak Securities, "On an immediate basis, the market has next major support at 4,955 and 4,924. Below 4,924, the Nifty may fall to 4,840 in next few sessions."

Meanwhile, the European markets have also opened lower adding to the worries in the Indian markets. CAC40 index opened lower by nearly  3% at 2,890, FTSE opened 5,095, down 2.3% and DAX opened lower by 154 points or 3% at 5,035.

Back home, most Sensex stocks were trading in the negative territory. Jindal Steel was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 5.4% to Rs 511. Tata Motors slipped 5% to Rs 145. J P Associates, ICICI Bank, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, TCS and Larsen & Toubro were also trading lower by 3-4% each.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC and Cipla were among the few gainers.

All the sectoral indices were trading in the red. Metals and IT stocks were among the worst hit. The BSE Metal index plunged 3.2% or 388 points to 11,917 and the BSE IT index was at 4,796, down 3.1% or 154 points. Consumer Durables, Bankex, Capital Goods, Auto, Realty, Oil & Gas and PSU indices were also trading lower by 1.4-2.7% each.

Jindal Steel was the top loser among the Metal stocks. The stock was down 5.4% to Rs 511. It was followed by Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Sesa Goa, SAIL, NALCO and Bhushan Steel, down 2-4% each. Among the IT stocks HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, TCS, Oracle Financial Services Software, Wipro, Core Projects and MphasiS were among the top losers.

The broader markets also reeled under the selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap index was down 1.6% or 106 points at 6,329 and the small-cap index declined nealy 2% to 7,170.

The overall breadth was extremely negative as 1,876 stocks declined while 639 stocks advanced.