As missiles get airborne, Sensex sinks 700 points
Sensex ends 651 lower, while the Nifty tanks 209 points as concerns over Syria escalate. Rupee hits 68 levels again
Markets witnessed their second biggest fall in absolute terms today since October 2011 with the S&P BSE Sensex slipping over 700 points in intra-day trades and finally settling 651 points lower at 18,234 levels, while the 50-share Nifty slumped 209 points to end at 5,341. On August 16 this year, the benchmark index had tanked 769 points.
After a soft start, the selling aggravated in the second half of the session on reports that the US might strike Bashar Al Asad led regime in Syria for using chemical weapons against the opposition. Russian radar detected two ballistic “objects” that were fired towards the eastern Mediterranean from the central part of the sea on Tuesday, state-run news agency RIA quoted the Defence Ministry as saying.
Investors lost over Rs 1.5-lakh crore market wealth in single day today. Total market capitalisation of actively traded stocks on BSE has declined by Rs 1.63-lakh crore to Rs 5,949,295 crore. Out of BSE-500 companies, the market price of 54 stocks declined by over 5% each.
The rupee slid a little closer on Tuesday to a record low struck against the dollar last week, as investors remained doubtful whether the government would act decisively to restore confidence in the economy. The rupee had opened at 66.30 to a dollar and fell nearly 3% to 68.10 in the intra-day deals. Crude oil prices also strengthened to $115-a-barrel mark.
“We have lost nearly 62% of the recent upside seen in the markets. If the Nifty doesn’t sustain 5,250 – 5,300, we then have a problem at hand. There are chances that the Nifty can slip to 4,900 level and this can happen very fast in case of an attack on Syria,” said A K Prabhakar, senior vice-president (equity research), Anand Rathi.
“The markets were already weak before the ‘ballistic object’ reports came in. I don’t think anyone trusted the recent rally and the problems for India haven’t changed one bit. If anything, the GDP (gross domestic product) figures for the first quarter were appalling,” said Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors.
“Things are not working out for the banking sector as well. The rupee is not appreciating despite whatever measures the government takes. There have also been reports of long-only India funds selling. That’s why we saw some of the heavyweights crack in trade today. I think the Nifty can hit the recent lows of 5,100,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Asian markets closed on a positive note on the back of better than expected macro economic data from US and China. The Hang Seng advanced 219 points to close at 22,394, Shanghai Composite ended higher by 25 points at 2,123, Nikkei jumped 405 points to close at 13,978 and the Taiwan Weighted gained 50 points to end at 8,088.
Banks crack
Back home, selling pressure was visible across the board. Banking, oil & gas and consumer durable stocks were amongst the worst hit in today's session. The S&P BSE banking index, Bankex, slipped a massive 5%, or 527 points, in the intra-day deals to settle at 9,871.
Axis Bank was the top loser from the banking space and hit its 52-week low. The stock crashed 9.3% to close at Rs 782. Federal Bank, Andhra Bank, Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank and Corporation Bank from banking sector have hit 52-week low today.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was the top loser on the Sensex. The stock fell 6% to Rs 830. ITC also fell 5.3% to Rs 302. Both these counters accounted for 25% decline on the Nifty, data shows.
The other prominent losers on the Sensex included ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, HUL, Jindal Steel, Tata Power, Sun Pharma. They fell 2.5-6% each. However, Coal India and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the notable gainers.
Smart Moves
Among the individual stocks, Steel Strips Wheels Limited (SSWL) moved higher by 6% to Rs 123 after the company said it has recorded highest ever monthly sale of 971,000 wheels in August 2013 on back of good demand. The auto parts and equipment maker had sold 835,000 wheels in the same month year ago.
Radico Khaitan was locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 125 on NSE on reports that the company plans to sell a minority stake to Japanese liquor company Suntory Holdings.
Hero MotoCorp dipped over 6% to Rs 1,893 after the stock turn ex-dividend today. A total of 30,000 shares change hands on the counter on the BSE.
The broader markets also ended on a weak note. The BSE mid-cap index slipped nearly 2% or 100 points to close at 5,375 and the small-cap index slipped 1% or 50 points to end at 5,194. The overall breadth was extremely negative as 1,478 stocks declined while 805 advanced
After a soft start, the selling aggravated in the second half of the session on reports that the US might strike Bashar Al Asad led regime in Syria for using chemical weapons against the opposition. Russian radar detected two ballistic “objects” that were fired towards the eastern Mediterranean from the central part of the sea on Tuesday, state-run news agency RIA quoted the Defence Ministry as saying.
Investors lost over Rs 1.5-lakh crore market wealth in single day today. Total market capitalisation of actively traded stocks on BSE has declined by Rs 1.63-lakh crore to Rs 5,949,295 crore. Out of BSE-500 companies, the market price of 54 stocks declined by over 5% each.
The rupee slid a little closer on Tuesday to a record low struck against the dollar last week, as investors remained doubtful whether the government would act decisively to restore confidence in the economy. The rupee had opened at 66.30 to a dollar and fell nearly 3% to 68.10 in the intra-day deals. Crude oil prices also strengthened to $115-a-barrel mark.
“We have lost nearly 62% of the recent upside seen in the markets. If the Nifty doesn’t sustain 5,250 – 5,300, we then have a problem at hand. There are chances that the Nifty can slip to 4,900 level and this can happen very fast in case of an attack on Syria,” said A K Prabhakar, senior vice-president (equity research), Anand Rathi.
“The markets were already weak before the ‘ballistic object’ reports came in. I don’t think anyone trusted the recent rally and the problems for India haven’t changed one bit. If anything, the GDP (gross domestic product) figures for the first quarter were appalling,” said Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors.
“Things are not working out for the banking sector as well. The rupee is not appreciating despite whatever measures the government takes. There have also been reports of long-only India funds selling. That’s why we saw some of the heavyweights crack in trade today. I think the Nifty can hit the recent lows of 5,100,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Asian markets closed on a positive note on the back of better than expected macro economic data from US and China. The Hang Seng advanced 219 points to close at 22,394, Shanghai Composite ended higher by 25 points at 2,123, Nikkei jumped 405 points to close at 13,978 and the Taiwan Weighted gained 50 points to end at 8,088.
Banks crack
Back home, selling pressure was visible across the board. Banking, oil & gas and consumer durable stocks were amongst the worst hit in today's session. The S&P BSE banking index, Bankex, slipped a massive 5%, or 527 points, in the intra-day deals to settle at 9,871.
Axis Bank was the top loser from the banking space and hit its 52-week low. The stock crashed 9.3% to close at Rs 782. Federal Bank, Andhra Bank, Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank and Corporation Bank from banking sector have hit 52-week low today.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was the top loser on the Sensex. The stock fell 6% to Rs 830. ITC also fell 5.3% to Rs 302. Both these counters accounted for 25% decline on the Nifty, data shows.
The other prominent losers on the Sensex included ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, HUL, Jindal Steel, Tata Power, Sun Pharma. They fell 2.5-6% each. However, Coal India and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the notable gainers.
Smart Moves
Among the individual stocks, Steel Strips Wheels Limited (SSWL) moved higher by 6% to Rs 123 after the company said it has recorded highest ever monthly sale of 971,000 wheels in August 2013 on back of good demand. The auto parts and equipment maker had sold 835,000 wheels in the same month year ago.
Radico Khaitan was locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 125 on NSE on reports that the company plans to sell a minority stake to Japanese liquor company Suntory Holdings.
Hero MotoCorp dipped over 6% to Rs 1,893 after the stock turn ex-dividend today. A total of 30,000 shares change hands on the counter on the BSE.
The broader markets also ended on a weak note. The BSE mid-cap index slipped nearly 2% or 100 points to close at 5,375 and the small-cap index slipped 1% or 50 points to end at 5,194. The overall breadth was extremely negative as 1,478 stocks declined while 805 advanced
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