Sensex snaps 5-day rally, down by 480 pts

Snapping the longest rally of 2009, for five days, the benchmark Sensex tumbled by a whopping 480 points on Monday to close below the 10,000-mark at 9,568.14 following distinctly weak global cues amid political uncertainty.

Wall Street saw a fresh fall last Friday as Washington rejected the restructuring plan for automakers and there were expectations of weak earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by nearly 148 points and 42 points, respectively.

As a result, the sentiment percolated to other markets and the Asian indices today exhibited distinctly weak trends at close today with a fall between 0.69 per cent and 4.70 per cent. European indices also opened sharply lower.

On the local front, political uncertainty ahead of the general elections also put pressure on the market.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer resumed sharply lower at 9,902.35 from last Friday's close of 10,048.49 and gradually moved down further to settle the day at 9,568.14, a steep decline of 480.35 points or 4.78 per cent. The index had gained 1,081.81 points or 12.06 per cent in the bull run last week.

Similarly, the 50-issue of the National Stock Exchange also dipped by 130.50 points or 4.20 per cent to 2,978.15 as against the previous close.

The fall in the Sensex was the highest, in actual terms, since January 7, 2009, when it had slumped by 749.05 points.

Banking, metal and realty shares were at the receiving end while other segments also suffered sharp setbacks. Among the sectoral indices only consumer durables and healthcare landed in the green at the end.

The Bankex plunged by 414.56 points or 8.58 per cent, the metal index by 452.41 points or 7.40 per cent and the realty index by 118.32 points or 7.24 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their buying spree and pumped in nearly Rs 2,680 crore in the last week.

Only NTPC and Sun Pharma from the Sensex family ended with modest gains while Jaipra Asso dropped by 12.34 per cent, ICICI Bank by 12.27 per cent, Tata Steel by 12.24 per cent, REL Infra by 11.43 per cent, DLF by 9.34 per cent, SBI by 9.18 per cent, TCS by 9.12 per cent, Hindalco by 8.81 per cent, Tata Motors by 8.74 per cent and HDFC by 8.72 per cent.

The total market depth turned negative as 1,471 counters ended with losses while 904 closed with gains on the BSE.

The trading volume dropped sharply to Rs 3,260.81 crore from Rs 4,347.91 crore on Friday. RIL remained the top-traded share with the highest turnover of Rs 354.62 crore followed by ICICI Bank (Rs 229.17 crore), Aban Offshore (Rs 131.89 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 131.51 crore).