Late selling pulls Sensex down 345 points (Roundup)
By IANSFriday, November 19, 2010
MUMBAI - A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Friday plunged sharply in late selling, ending trade 345 points lower and touching a two-month low.
The BSE 30-share benchmark index, which opened on a positive note at 19,982.75 points, closed at 19,585.44 points, down 345.2 points or 1.73 percent, compared to its previous close at 19,930.64 points.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5,890.3 points, down 1.81 percent.
Broader markets closed in the red too, with the BSE midcap index closing 1.99 percent lower while the BSE smallcap index ended 2.08 percent down.
Realty, energy and metals stocks led the losers’ pack. All the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE were in the negative.
Top Sensex losers were Reliance Infra, down 5.25 percent at Rs.945.35; Hindalco Industries, down 4.27 percent at Rs.212.85; Wipro, down 4.01 percent at Rs.401.65; and Reliance Comm, down 3.57 percent at Rs.148.40.
Thre were only four gainers on the Sensex: Hero Honda, up 1.72 percent at Rs.1,945.70; Bharti Airtel, up 1.22 percent at Rs.328.85; L&T, up 0.35 percent at Rs.2,045.90; and Hindustan Unilever, up 0.08 percent at Rs.298.70.
The market breadth was negative, with 695 stocks advancing, 2,289 declining and 125 remaining unchanged.
According to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors lost scrips worth $48.14 million Friday.
Other Asian markets closed mixed.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.13 percent down at 23,605.71 points, while the Japanese markets ended modestly higher at 10,022.39 points.
The Shanghai Composite index ended 0.81 percent higher at 2,888.57 points.
European bourses were trading lower on investor concerns about the Irish sovereign debt and as the People’s Bank of China raised its banks’ reserve requirement ratio.
Around mid-day, Britain’s FTSE 100 was trading 1.24 percent lower at 5,696.98 points.
The German DAX was down 0.34 percent at 6,808.73 points, while the French CAC 40 was 0.8 percent lower at 3,837.11 points.
