Sensex falls sharply due to European crisis

Mumbai: Indian market has been reeling under severe losses on the back of intense selling pressure in other Asian markets. This was due to the European jitters - rising sovereign bond yields intensified investors' concerns. Capital goods, metals, technology, auto (barring Hero Motocorp) and banks are stocks caught in bears' grip.

Asian markets extended losses; Shanghai, Hang Seng, Kospi and Taiwan tanked around 2 per cent; Nikkei and Straits Times moved down over 1 per cent. European markets like CAC and DAX futures lost 2-2.7 per cent while FTSE futures slipped 1 per cent.

Back home, the NSE Nifty touched an intra-day low of 4,847.50; it was 65 points at 4,869.40 and the BSE Sensex plummeted 194 points to 16,267.27 on Friday.

BHEL was the biggest loser, falling nearly 5 per cent. Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Jaiprakash Associates were other major losers, declining 3-4 per cent.

Reliance Industries, ITC, ICICI Bank, L&T, TCS, NTPC, SBI and Coal India were down 1.5-2 per cent; However, Hero Motocorp and Sun Pharma rallied 2-2.5 per cent. HDFC and HUL moved up 0.6 per cent each. Cipla gained 1.5 per cent.

Declining outnumbered advancing ones by 1080 to 199 on the National Stock Exchange.

At 10:10 hours IST : Global cues push Sensex over 1 per cent lower; BHEL drops 4 per cent.

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses led by fall in major largecaps like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, TCS, Tata Motors, SBI and BHEL. These stocks plunged between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. Even Asian markets slipped 1-2 per cent as eurozone has not been getting any proper solution to solve the debt crisis. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 182 points to 16,279.73 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 64 points to 4,870.40.

Sanju Verma, managing director and chief executive officer of Violet Arch Capital Advisors warns that investors need to be cautious for the next three months. "Even though EU concerns are already priced in, Europe and its geopolitical concerns remains an overhang for the market," she says.

Frontliners like ITC, M&M, L&T, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, Sterlite, JSPL, Coal India, Wipro and Jaiprakash Associates dropped 1-2 per cent; Maruti Suzuki fell over 3 per cent.

However, Hero Motocorp bucked the trend, rising 2 per cent. Sun Pharma and Cipla gained 1.3 per cent each. HUL, Bharti and HDFC Bank moved up 0.2-0.5 per cent.

Broader indices too have been reeling under pressure; the BSE Midcap Index was down 1.7 per cent and Smallcap down 2 per cent.

Among midcaps, Sintex Industries, Pantaloon Retail, Shoppers Stop, Puravankara Projects and Ipca Labs rallied 2-5.5 per cent. However, Parsvnath, Amtek Auto and Pipavav Defence were locked at 20 per cent lower circuit; Kwality Dairy fell 10 per cent and Rolta lost 7.5 per cent.

In the smallcap space, Kirloskar Industries, Sarasind, Bliss GVS, Dhampur Sugar and West Coast Paper gained 3-6 per cent while Mandhana Industries, Amtek India and Splash Media were down 19-20 per cent; Fineotex Chemical and Nitin Fire Protection slipped 13 per cent.

The market breadth worsened further; six shares dropped for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange.

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