Sensex ends below Nov closing lows: O&G, bank drag
03 Mar 2009
The markets have slipped sharply lower in the last one hour of the trade, after seeing choppy trade. The Sensex closed below the November closing low of 8451 and the Nifty broke crucial support level of 2650. All sectoral indices ended in red; especially shares of FMCG, telecom, technology, banking, oil & gas exploration and capital goods companies were draggers.
FIIs were the sellers in today's trade, which also impacted the Indian Rupee that saw new low of 52 a dollar. Market breadth remained weak throughout the session due to downtrend in broader indices; about 1030 shares advanced while 1850 shares declined. Nearly 167 shares remained unchanged.
This was the third day in a row that markets closed on a weak note. The 30-share BSE Sensex hit an intraday low of 8,390.21, before closing the day at 8,427.29, down 2.09% or 179.79 points, a lowest since 10 November 2005 closing of 8308.93. It is nearly 730 points away from October 2800 lows of 7697.39. The 50-share NSE Nifty ended at 2622.40, down 1.95% or 52.20 points, after touching an intraday low of 2611.55.
Technical Analyst Mitesh Thacker said unless the Nifty breaks 2,650 on a closing basis, it should remain in a range. ''2,650 is a strong support. If that holds, we are in a range of 2,650–2,790. Otherwise, the market could see a retest of October lows,'' Thacker said.
Reliance Industries, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Reliance Communication, TCS, SBI, Infosys, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Tata Power, BHEL and L&T were leading contributors to this fall. However, cement and OMCs stocks remained on the higher side.
Global cues have turned weak during the closing of Indian equities. European markets slipped into red, after positive opening. FTSE was trading at 3,567, down 58 points. CAC was down 17 points, to 2,563 and DAX down 38 points, to 3,671.
US futures have come off from its day's high; Dow Jones futures were up 12 points, to 6,802 and Nasdaq Futures up just 2.25 points, to 1,088.
Asian markets ended slightly mixed. Shanghai fell 1.05% and Hang Seng down 2.3%. Nikkei was down 0.69% and Straits Times fell 0.32%. However, Kospi gained 0.66% and Taiwan went up just 0.21%. Jakarta Composite was up 0.69%.