Markets butchered on bad global cues; RIL, Infy, Bharti drag

05 September 2008

Markets were smashed out completely in today's trade on the back of bad global cues. Banking, technology, real estate, metal, telecom and oil stocks took huge beating. Frontline indices remained under pressure through the day followed by midcap and small cap stocks as well.

The Sensex closed at 14,483.83, falling 415.27 points or 2.79% and the Nifty Fifty plunged 95.45 points or 2.15%, to settle at 4352.30. Both indices hit an intraday low of 14,438.59 and 4328.90, respectively.

Bad global cues was the main culprit today. The markets opened sharply lower following weak US cues as jobless claims increased in the US. Even the Asian and European markets declined. Experts predict that the financial crisis would get worse.

SA Narayan, MD of Kotak Securities feels if the global markets continue to be in turmoil, India would follow. The liquidity is unlikely to come back in a hurry. He sees the market in a broad range of 13000-16000.

Among the frontrunners, Ranbaxy Labs lost 8.77%, HDFC -5.78%, DLF -5.41%, Jaiprakash Associates -5.23%, Wipro -4.88% and Unitech -4.49%. However, BPCL gained 8.57%, HUL 1.85%, ITC 0.40% and ONGC 0.34%.

The Realty Index underperformed the other indices; it fell 216.46 points or 4.17% to 4,979.26. Akruti City, DLF, Unitech, Peninsula Land, Mahindra Life, Indiabulls Real and HDIL fell 3-6.5%. Orbit Corporation went up over 5% during the day on the news that SC has allowed builders to use 3-7x FSI for redevelopment projects in Mumbai. The stock settled with a gain of 1.43%.