Sensex caves in on Eurozone jitters, ends 300 points down

The benchmark Sensex shed over 300 points following slump in global markets, which reacted quite sharply to European woes. Rating agency S&P has lowered Greece's credit rating to BB+ from BBB+ on Thursday and warned that bondholders could recover as little as 30% of their initial investment if the country restructures its debt. It also reduced Portugal by two steps to A- from A+.

Downgraded marked the first time a euro member has lost investment grade rating since the currency's 1999 debut. Credit-default swaps on European sovereign debt surged to records post this news; Greek CDS climbed 111 bps to 821 yesterday. The US markets were down 2%. Asian markets slipped 0.8-2.5% today while only Shanghai was down just 0.26%. European markets already factored in this news, as they tumbled 2.6-4% yesterday. Today FTSE was down just 0.66% while CAC and DAX fell 1.6% each.

In reaction to European concerns, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 17380, down 310 points and the Nifty fell 92 points to settle at 5215.

Among other oil & gas stocks, ONGC and GAIL fell 0.5-0.8%; Cairn India lost 2.5% while BPCL gained 0.3%.

SAIL from the metal space plunged 4.5% and Tata Steel lost 3.6%. Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries were down 1-2.5%.

TCS, Wipro and Infosys from the technology pack declined 1-2%. HCL Tech fell just 0.5%.