Markets close in deep red: Banks, IT, FMCG culprits

08 May 2008

It was a lacklustre day for the markets, volumes were low. Technology, private banks, FMCG and capital goods stocks were biggest culprits, dragged the Sensex and Nifty lower by more than 1%. The Sensex still held above 17000 mark and the Nifty above 5000. Market breadth remained negative, nearly 1:2. Midcap and small cap stocks also closed in the red. On the global front, Asian markets finished lower barring Shanghai. European markets were trading lower at the time of writing closing market report.

The Sensex touched an intraday high 17,212.61 and low of 17,038.03, before closing the day at 17,080.65, down by 1.49% or 258.66 points. The Nifty Fifty ended at 5081.70, down 1.05% or 53.8 points which hit high/low of 5143.05 and 5062.45, respectively.

The CNX Midcap fell 0.94% at 6959.15. The BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices ended at 7,153.43 and 8,689.04, fell by 0.67% and 0.44%, respectively.

Market breadth was in negative, about 1211 shares have advanced, 1698 shares declined, and 177 shares remained unchanged.

Major losers were ITC, Satyam, L&T and, Infosys while gainers - Tata Comm, Tata Steel, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, and ACC.

Banking stocks were draggers especially private banks. The BSE Bankex lost 2.9% or 261 points at 8,755.48 as selling pressure seen in Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Axis Bank, Union Bank, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank.