Sensex plunges by over 357 pts on weak global cues

Weak global cues have had a spillover effect on the Indian bourses as the benchmark Sensex on Monday plunged by over 357 points on all-round selling, mainly led by
realty, metal and banking counters.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer opened lower at 9,363.58 and continued to reel under pressure before ending the day at 9,066.70, a steep fall of 357.54 points or 3.79 per cent, from the previous close of 9,424.24.

Frantic buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) could not stem the fall as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree. DIIs picked up shares over Rs 1,400 crore in the last week but failed to salvage the current situation.

Apprehensions over the worsening state of the US economy continued to weigh on the other world stock markets.

Besides China and Taiwan, which ended in positive terrain, other Asian indices finished the day in the red on the back of a steep fall on Wall Street last Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled by 1.82 per cent and 2.08 per cent, respectively, last Friday.

The Sensex had gained by nearly 188 points or 2.04 per cent on January 30. The broad-based 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also tumbled by 108.15 points or 3.76 per cent to 2,766.65 from the last close.

Fears over the declining third-quarter corporate profits also impacted market sentiment.

Selling was so strong that 29 out of 30 index-based counters ended with sharp to moderate losses. Fall in exports by 1.1 per cent in December 2008, posting negative growth for the third month running under the impact of a slowdown in major global markets, impacted sentiment. 

In the Sensex family, Jaipra Asso dipped 13.70 per cent, DLF 13.54 per cent, REL Infra 10.50 per cent, ICICI Bank 7.54 per cent, HDFC 7.37 per cent, Tata Steel 6.63 per cent, Reliance Com 6.20 per cent, and Hindalco 6.01 per cent.

Among other Sensex members, SBI fell 4.91 per cent, Wipro 4.76 per cent, Tata Motors 4.68 per cent, Sterlite Ind 4.56 per cent, NTPC 4.41 per cent and RIL 3.60 per cent. 

BK Modi-led Spice Communications flared up by 68.90 per cent after gaining by over 81 per cent last Friday after making a formal bid to acquire scam-hit Satyam Computer.

The market breadth turned highly negative as 1,576 stocks registered losses while 866 ended with gains on the BSE.

The trading volume dropped further to Rs 3,026.11 crore from Rs 3,606.30 crore on Friday. RIL remained the top traded share with the highest turnover of Rs 229.12 crore, followed by Satyam Computer (Rs 199.19 crore), Spice Tele (Rs 189.56
crore), DLF (Rs 138.03 cr) and United Spirits (Rs 128.02 cr).

All sectoral indices ended with an average fall of 0.63 per cent to 10.32 per cent. The BSE-Realty slumped by 172.11 points or 10.32 per cent, the BSE-Metal by 272.38 points to 5.34 per cent and the Bankex by 250.48 points or 5.11 per cent.

The BSE-100 index dropped by 169.95 points or 3.55 per cent to 4,620.37 from the previous close of 4,790.32.