Staff Reporter | 09 May, 2008
The markets witnessed huge selling pressure in late trade due to big weakness in oil & gas, realty, banking, capital goods and power stocks. Higher inflation numbers and crude prices were the real culprits behind today's free fall.

The Sensex and Nifty breached their psychological levels i.e. 17000 and 5000, respectively. Heavyweights like Reliance Petro, Reliance Infra, Reliance and JP Associates were biggest losers.

Market breadth was pathetic, nearly 1:5. Midcap and small cap stocks also hammered. On the global front, Asian markets ended lower. European markets were trading weak, at the time of writing report.

The Sensex closed the day at 16,737.07, down 2.01% or 343.58 points after hitting an intraday high and low of 17,125.95 and 16,678.94. The Nifty has touched high/low of 5087.65 and 4969.40, respectively before ending the day at 4982.60, down 1.95% or 99.1 points. About 788 shares have advanced, 2114 shares declined, and 185 shares remained unchanged.

Inflation for the week ended April 26 stood at 7.61% as against 7.57% in previous week, which was in line with market's estimates. Inflation remained at 42-month high. Wholesale Price Index, WPI for all commodities was at 227.7, up 0.1%. WPI up due to rise in food prices. Tea Prices was up 11%.

Overall the market remained weak on weekly basis, the Sensex was down nearly 5% and the Nifty fell 4.8%. Reliance Energy, BHEL, L&T and SAIL were biggest losers amongst the Nifty Fifty.

The BSE Midcap fell 2.25% to close at 6,992.66 and Small Cap Index declined 2.11% at 8,505.64. Top midcap losers were Spice Comm, Bombay Dyeing, Chennai Petro, Moser Baer, Nagarjuna Fert, HCC and Essar Shipping.

Top losing counters were JP Associates, Reliance, Reliance Infra, ACC, Reliance Petro, PNB and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Biggest draggers were Oil and gas stocks like Essar Oil, Reliance Natural, Reliance Industries, Petronet LNG, GAIL and BPCL. The BSE Oil & Gas Index slipped 4.71% or 547.57 points at 11,080.88 (touched an intraday low of 11,020.43). The Nymex crude has hit USD 124.58 per barrel in the morning.

Realty stocks also collapsed like pack of card. The BSE Realty Index fell 2.95% or 239.60 points at 7,891.10 as selling pressure seen in HDIL, Puravankara Pro, Unitech, Omaxe, Ansal Properties, Parsvnath, Sobha Developers, Akruti City and DLF.

Banking stocks including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, PNB, SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank have lost money, which pulled the BSE Bankex down by 2.78% or 243.83 points at 8,511.65.
 
The BSE Capital Goods Index cracked 1.99% at 13,109.36 due to weakness in Astra Microwave, Triveni Engg, Kirloskar Bros, Punj Lloyd, Suzlon Energy, BHEL, L&T and BEML.

Power stocks like Reliance Petro, GMR Infra, Torrent Power, GVK Power, Areva T&D, Reliance Power, Power Grid Corp and NTPC have lost battery. The BSE Power Index fell 1.99% at 3,199.06.

The BSE Healthcare Index was also down 1.62% at 4,152.97 as pharma stocks including Divis Labs, Dr Reddys Labs, Aurobindo Pharm, Panacea Biotech, Dishman Pharma and Cipla crushed.

Technology stocks continued with bloodbath, BSE IT Index down 1.38% at 4,235.24 due to selling pressure in Mphasis, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech and Patni Computer. The Indian Rupee appreciated to 41.44 per dollar in the afternoon, at the time of writing report, trading at 41.66 per dollar.
 
Metal stocks like Jindal Steel, Ispat Industries, Hind Zinc, Hindalco, Tata Steel and NALCO have lost the shine. The BSE Metal Index closed at 15,610.69, down 1.47% over previous close.

Auto stocks including Apollo Tyres, Hind Motors, Ashok Leyland, Cummins, Punj Tractors, TVS Motor and Amtek Auto have slaughtered. The BSE Auto Index finished at 4,723.87, down 0.90%.

However, FMCG stocks ended with sweet gains, which includes Nestle, P and G, ITC, Marico, Godrej Consumer and Britannia. The BSE FMCG Index gained 0.55% to close at 2,458.66.

Total market turnover for the day stood at Rs 55403.03 crore including Rs 13871.53 crore from NSE Cash, Rs 34951 crore from NSE F&O and Rs 6580.5 crore from BSE Cash.