Nifty ends below 4400; oil, metal, auto, cement stocks dip

18 August 2008

Markets ended in negative terrain after trading with extreme volatility through the day. Sell off in oil & gas, metal, power, auto, cement, FMCG and realty stocks has put pressure on frontline indices. Weak Asian and European markets also fueled to negative sentiments. Markets had opened flat in early trade and remained rangebound but in last one hour of session, both indices traded lower.

The Sensex has touched an intraday high of 14,824.92 and low of 14,600.65, before closing at 14,645.66, down 78.52 points or 0.53%. Nifty slipped below 4400 and closed at 4393.05, down 37.65 points or 0.85%. It has hit a high/low of 4447.40 and 4379.85, respectively.

Amongst frontliners, GAIL plunged 5.56%, Ambuja Cements -5.32%, Hindalco -4.53%, Grasim Ind -4.52%, ABB -3.36%, Reliance Communication -2.71%, M&M -2.56% and ACC -2.52% while HDFC gained 3.12%, Dr Reddys Labs 2.49%, HDFC Bank 2.14%, Satyam 1.75%, L&T 1.29% and TCS 1.24%.

Oil & Gas index underperformed other indices, fell 200.44 points or 1.97% at 9,996.61 led by selling in GAIL, HPCL, Reliance Petro, Essar Oil, Aban Offshore, BPCL and Reliance Ind, which lost 2-5.5%.

Metal stocks like Hindalco, Shree Precoated, Ispat Industries, Jindal Saw, SAIL and Tata Steel plunged 2-4.5%. Index ended with a loss of 229.73 points or 1.82% at 12,364.17.

Power Index slipped 40.28 points or 1.52% at 2,608.35 due to sell off in Suzlon Energy, Torrent Power, Reliance Power, Tata Power, Reliance Infra, Power Grid Corp and GMR Infra.