Sensex, Nifty end down 3 per cent; Bankex, Oil&Gas slip 5 per cent

25 July 2008

Markets sink deep in red on the back of continued profit booking and weak global cues. Markets ignored stability in crude price and steady inflation numbers. The BSE bank, oil & gas, realty and capital goods stocks witness heavy selling pressure. Power, metal, auto and IT indices were also closed negative. More pressure was seen from domestic financial institution and life insurance companies. However, in this free fall BSE midcap and small cap indices were marginally down.

Even though markets were down in last two consecutive days, its weekly gains remained good. In this week Sensex ends up 4.5% and Nifty up 5.5% from its previous week close.

ICICI Bank was down nearly 10% from its previous close as markets are expecting poor set of quarter numbers from India's largest private bank.

The Sensex was down 502.07 points or 3.40% at 14274.94. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 14,484.39 and an intra day low of Rs 14,210.63.

The Nifty was down 121.70 points or 2.74% at 4311.85. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 4440.85 and an intra day low of Rs 4297.15.

Markets breadth was negative, about 1325 shares have advanced, 1612 shares declined, and 214 shares are unchanged.