Sensex sinks 314 points on intense selling pressure

The Indian markets took an ugly turn in the mid-afternoon trade and ended with heavy losses. The Sensex slipped 314 points and the Nifty fell 96 points.

Major headlines

Govt raises investment limit in G-secs, bonds

FM approves changes in Food Bill

Suzlon Energy hits 52-week low on block deal

SEBI considers circuit filter on listing days

Food inflation eases to 10.63% Vs 11.81%

Patni jumps as iGate plans to delist



Indian indices

The Indian markets came out of volatile trade and witnessed deep cut in the mid-afternoon session as selling intensified across the board. Major fall was led by oil & gas, power, metal, realty, capital goods, PSU and auto stocks. Out of 30 Sensex stocks, only three posted gains. Heavyweights like RIL, JP Associates, Maruti, BHEL, Sterlite, Tata Motors, ITC, ONGC and DLF crashed, which contributed to today’s heavy decline.

Weakness in the European indices on concerns of eurozone debt crisis too dampened sentiments. The recent decline in the Indian rupee against the dollar put pressure on the markets.

The Nifty fell below the 4950 mark. The Indian markets hit 5-week low and closed lower for the sixth straight session.

Sensex movements: Weak global cues dragged the Sensex 21 points lower at 16755 in the opening trade. Later the index saw mild gains in the mid-morning trade and touched an intraday high of 16807. The index was stuck in a narrow range for most part of the trade. However, a sudden fall in the mid-afternoon session on all-round selling dragged the index to an intraday low of 16409. The Sensex plunged 314 points to close at 16462 and the Nifty stood at 4935, down by 96 points.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood weak as falling shares outdid gaining ones over two times. Of the 2951 stocks traded on the BSE, 897 (30.40%) rose, 1927 (65.30%) fell and 127 (4.30%) were unchanged.

Viewing volumes

India's second largest developer - Unitech saw highest trading with over 1.54 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Then comes, wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (1.10 crore shares), sugar making company - Shree Renuka Sugars (0.61 crore shares), the leading providers of plastics and textile related products - Sintex Industries (0.42 crore shares) and an integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech (0.37 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

All the sectors were in red. Major losers -- BSE Oil & Gas dipped by 3.39%, followed by BSE Power down by 2.86%, BSE Metal slipped by 2.48%, BSE Realty slid by 2.40% and BSE CG skid by 2.19%.

In 'A' group stocks, biggest gainers -- Pantaloon Retail (India) up by 8.13%, Mphasis rose by 3.73% and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation advanced by 1.81%. Weak movers -- Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company declined by 13.26%, Suzlon Energy fell by 12.48% and Adani Enterprises declined by 9.30%.

Global Indices:

The European stock markets extended fall on Thursday (November 17, 2011) , led by banks, as euro zone sovereign bond yields surged ahead of Spanish and French debt auctions, on worries of further contagion in the currency bloc's debt crisis.

The Asian stocks closed mixed on Thursday ahead of data which could show the U.S. economy is weathering Europe's debt storm, but investors remained elusive amid fears of what news might come next out of the euro zone.

The US stock index futures pointed to a steady-to-lower open on the Wall Street on Thursday.

Market Outlook: In the US, Housing Starts, Jobless Claims and Philadelphia Fed Survey will be out on Thursday.