Sensex ends below 17,000

Metal stocks amongst the worst hit

The markets ended Monday's trading session on a weak note. The Sensex provisionally closed at 16,889, down 269 points and the 50-share Nifty slipped 88 points to provisionally close at 5,117.
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(Updated at 1430 hours)

Markets have extended losses in the late noon deals on the back of weak global cues leading to an intense selling pressure across the board. The Sensex is down 260 points at 16,898 and the 50-share Nifty has slipped 84 points to 5,121 levels.

Meanwhile, the European markets have also opened on a weak note CAC 40, DAX and FTSE have slipped 1.5% each after two Spanish regions said they would need aid, reigniting fears the country will become the fourth euro zone member to need a full international bailout.

The Asian markets closed lower on continued fears regarding Greece and Spain. Nikkei slipped nearly 2% or 161 points to 8,508, Hang Seng plunged 3% or 587 points to close at 19,053 and the Shanghai Composite dipped 1.3% to 2,141 levels.

Back home, metal stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades today after the iron ore export slumped to multi-year low in April-June. Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel are trading weaker by 3-5% each.

Among the other heavyweight stocks, Maruti Suzuki is the top loser on the Sensex, down 5.5% at Rs 1,081 after the company declared a lockout at the factory. It is a first such instance in its history, but the company firmly ruled out the possibility of shifting operations to Gujarat.

BHEL, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of india, NTPC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra are also down 1.3-4% each.

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS and Cipla are among the notable gainers on the heavyweight front.


Selling pressure is visible across the board. The BSE metal index is the top sectoral loser, down 3% or 309 points at 10,363 levels. Power, realty, auto, bankex, PSU and capital goods indices have also edged lower by 1.4-2.3% each.


Shares of companies engaged in the retail business are under pressure on bourses in morning trades on reports that the Samajwadi Party (SP), Left parties and JD(S) have asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has dipped almost 3% at Rs 1,352 after reporting 300 bps decline in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margins to 9.09% for the quarter ended June 2012, against 12.11% in year ago quarter.

Geometric Limited has soared over 9% at Rs 78.80 after the mid-cap IT firm reported 76% year-on-year (y-o-y) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 20.66 crore for the quarter ended June 2012 on back of robust operation income.  Income from operations grew 51% at Rs 261 crore on y-o-y basis.

The broader markets are also trading lower. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices are trading lower by 1% each.

The overall breadth is extremely negative as 1,753 stocks are declining while 906 are advancing.