Sensex ends 132 points down, FOMC meet holds key tomorrow

BSE benchmark Sensex made final attempt to register a respectable close on Tuesday. Mounting fears over the health of global economy have prompted investors to hit the sell button. The catastrophioc fall of last few days continued for most part of today, but towards the afternoon the stock market managed to catch a glimpse of green, howsoever brief. 

The market saw huge swings before closing the trade. India's volatility index hit an all-time high of 34.31 on global uncertainties. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 132.27 points, to close at 16,857.91 after swinging 700 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 45.85 points, to end at 5,072.85.

It appears that markets have now priced in all negatives and was eyeing FOMC meet to be held in the US today. Pankaj Vaish, MD, head of markets of Citi, South Asia said, "Fed needs to talk about QE3 to restore confidence. Fundamentals are not bad in US markets."

Short covering was the major reason behind recovery in today's trade as the market was oversold after substantial fall of 1450 points on the Sensex in six days.

Rating agency S&P's statement that there would be no immediate impact of US rating cut on India also provided the much-needed relief. This was in contrast to the talks doing the rounds yesterday that S&P downgrade may hit other countries and companies.

Market breadth was in favour of declines - about 3.4 shares declined for every one share gained.