Market gives thumbs down to 2011

Stock markets have give the thumps down to 2011 and marketmen have described it a 'terrible' and 'peculiar' year. The year saw the benchmark sensitive index, Sensex, fall 24 per cent with the Indian market also emerging as the worst performer of the year.

The BSE Sensex closed yesterday, the last trading day of 2011, at 15,454.92, down from at 20,561 at the first trading session close on 3 January, while the NSE Nifty closed at 4,624.30, down from 6,157 at the beginning of the year.

Both the indices closed down 0.5 per cent yesterday after the markets opened on the back of a good global markets rally. However, they failed to keep up the momentum due to lack of follow-up buying, according to marketmen.

Market experts are of the view that high interest rates, rising inflation, leadership crisis, slower GDP growth rate and the depreciating rupee would continue to be major concerns.

The year started with rising crude oil prices due to political turmoil in oil-producing countries such as Libya with Europe, by then, emerging a major worry with countries like Greece and Ireland having run up huge debts.

But the big fall in the markets came with the August downgrade by Standard & Poor's of the US ratings, which pulled down markets across the world with Indian markets following suit.