Sensex ends below 27,000 at seven-week low

Benchmark indices ended the day with losses of around 2% each, amid a broad-based decline, on concerns over widening trade deficit and global economic growth.
 
Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex ended down 540 points at 26,779 and the 50-share Nifty closed down 152 points at 8,067.

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(Updated at 2:30 PM)

Benchmark indices have slumped to fresh intra-day lows tracking weakness in their Asian peers which have declined on sustained fall in global crude prices and contraction in Chinese factory output.  
 
At 2:25 PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 487 points at 26,837 and the 50-share Nifty was down 137 points at 8,082.

 
In the broader market, both BSE midcap and smallcap indices have performed worse than the front-liners with losses of around 2.4% and 3% each.  Market breadth in BSE is negative with more than five declines against every advance.
 
 The Indian markets have emerged as the worst performers in the Asian region in December so far with Sensex losing 6% and Nifty shedding around 5% in this month.
 
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities worth Rs 455.72 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
 
Buzzing Stocks
 
BSE IT and Teck indices, up 1.8% and 1.2% each are the only sector in green. BSE Realty and Metal indices, down 3.6% each have lost the most followed by BSE Consumer Durables index, down around 3%, Bankex and FMCG index, down 2.7% each, and BSE Healthcare and Power indices down around 2.4% each. 

 
The fall in rupee to eleven-month low level has boosted the information technology shares. TCS has gained close to 4% while Infosys and Wipro have gained more than 1% each.
 
Weak factory output data has brought fresh pressure on metal stocks. Tata Steel has lost over 1.5%.

Adverse ruling by a special court which rejected the closure report of CBI and asked for fresh investigations into the coal-scam case involving the allocation of coal mines to Hindalco has brought its shares down by over 5%.

Cairn India, down around 2.5% and its parent firm Sesa Sterlite, down around 6% are among the stocks worst hit by the sharp fall in the crude and other global commodity prices.

 
Oil and gas shares too remain weak on sustained decline in global crude prices. GAIL and ONGC have lost around 1.2% and 1.8% each.
 
Dr Reddys Lab, down around 6%, has lost due to Russia's emergency support to Rouble and depreciation of Venezuela's currency as the company has significant markets in these countries and a fall in their currencies will impact the revenues generated. According to media reports, the company has launched Valcyte generic valganciclovir hydrochloride tablets,an an antiviral medicine, in the US market. Valcyte tablets have an annual sale of around $440 million in the US.
 

Among financials, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC twins have lost around 3% each while Axis Bank has declined around 1%.
 
Index heavyweight, ITC has declined more than 3% while FMCG major HUL has declined around 1.3%.
 
Shares of state-owned oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum have gained around  1% to 3% each in an otherwise weak market as global crude oil prices dropped to fresh 51/2 year lows.

Global Markets

European markets have declined after opening with marginal gains as investors remain nervous over concerns about global economy which were accentuated after Russia sharply increased its key interest rate to 17% from 10.5% and China's factory sector contracted in December for the first time in seven months, according to HSBC/Markit survey.

 
Japanese stocks slumped on Tuesday to over six week lows on appreciating yen and concerns over global economy. Nikkei lost over 2%.
 
Shanghai Composite gained over 2% and remained an exception to the decline in Asian markets as strong gains in financial stocks led the gains. Hang Seng  index, however, lost around 1.6% as investors were discouraged by weakness in the U.S. and other emerging markets