Indian equity indices fall further to lowest in 2015 (Roundup)

Falling for the fifth straight week, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) fell nearly 250 points on Monday to end at its lowest level since October last year.

The 30-scrip Sensex opened at 26,814.31 points and closed 245.40 points, or 0.92 percent lower at 26,523.09 points. It touched a high of 26,827.06 points and a low of 26,472.87 points during the day -- fluctuation of little over 350 points.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in the negative - 70.55 points or 0.87 percent down at 8,044.15 points. For this index though, it was the sixth day of continuous drop, pulling it down to its lowest level since December 17, 2014.

Foreign funds were net sellers of shares worth $74.99 million on Monday.

"Market is nearing the important sentimental level of 8,000 points. We understand that confidence is low," said Vinod Nair, head of fundamental research with Geojit BNP Paribas, adding that the foreign funds were looking at other emerging markets.

"Continued selling by foreign portfolio investors in Indian market and concern of shift of their interest from Indian markets to the Chinese market created an alarming signal in the mindset of the investors," added Gaurav Jain, director with Hem Securities.

Even as all the 12 sector-specific indices logged a fall, selling pressure was particularly seen in consumer durables, metal, oil and gas, fast moving consumer durables (FMCG), healthcare and realty sectors.

The losers were led by Vedanta, down 3.12 percent at Rs.177.05, followed by Tata Steel, down 2.64 percent at Rs.302.85, Reliance Industries, down 2.30 percent at Rs.885.25, Hero Motor, down 2.24 percent at Rs.2,519.20, and Sun Pharma, down 2.21 percent at Rs.829.80.

The gainers were led by Tata Power, up 1.13 percent at Rs.71.40, followed by Bajaj Auto, up 1 percent at Rs.2,221.30, Axix Bank, up 0.92 percent at Rs.553.40, Tata Consultancy, up 0.24 percent at Rs.2,578.65, and Mahindra and Mahindra, up 0.15 percent at Rs.1,206.90

At the NSE, mid-cap index and small cap indices lost 1.64 percent and 1.48 percent respectively. Here too, all the sector-specific indices ended in red. The major losers included consumer durables, down 1.94 percent, and metals down 1.73 percent.

"The market breadth turned to negative from positive as there were 790 stocks advancing against 1,843 that declined," said Alex Mathews, the head of research with Geojit BNP Paribas.

Yet, Nair saw some hope. "A good start to monsoon and push in government spending will provide support to the market."