Markets end weak on settlement day; oil exp, telecom, IT drag

24 December 2008

The benchmark indices witnessed selling pressure throughout the session amid volatility, which was expected. It was a settlement day; the December contract got expired today. This was the third consecutive weak closing for markets. Sell-off was led by shares of major oil exploration, auto, realty, telecom, metal, technology, capital goods and power companies. Midcap and small cap stocks also followed the same trend. However, shares of oil marketing companies and banking ended in positive terrain.

The Nifty went closer to 2900 mark, but did not break that level. It closed with a loss of 51.80 points or 1.74% at 2916.85, after touching an intraday low of 2900.45. The Sensex was hovering around 9600 level for major part of the day; it has hit a low of 9,502.53, before ending the day at 9,568.72, down 118.03 points or 1.22% from previous close.

In the December series, Sensex and Nifty went up 6% each. CNX Midcap Index was up 10% and BSE Small Cap up 9%. BSE Realty surged 47%. BSE Bankex and Metals were up 16% each. However, BSE IT Index fell 12%; Satyam tumbled 44%, Rolta down 29% and Infosys down 6%.

Draggers for today's fall are Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Reliance Communication, L&T, Tata Motors, HDFC, Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, BHEL, NTPC and Tata Steel (Also See : Top Losers).

BSE Realty Index underperformed other indices, slipped 4.91% or 118.10 points to 2,288.28. Unitech 42.00 36.10 37.10 42.30 -5.20 -12.29 DLF 302.90 286.80 293.95 301.85 -7.90 -2.62 Other real estate stocks also tumbled 3-11%.

Auto stocks also took huge beating on the bourses, as many automobiles companies such as, Tata Motors, M&M, Ashok Leyland and Asia Motor Works plants have been shut due to inventory pile up. The enquiries for new vehicles have dried up and there is no movement in core sectors like cement and steel, except coal. Tata Motors' Jamshedpur plant worked for 10 days this month. Similarly, M&M's plants in Germany have been shut for 10 days.