Market Summary

Sensex lost 291.90 points (-1.97%) to settle at 14,493.84. Nifty declined 99.85 points (-2.27%) to close at 4291.10.

Markets ended sharply lower after a positive opening on back of huge selling in rate sensitive stocks, infrastructure, cement, metal and pharma.

Market breadth was negative; about 839 shares advanced, 1930 shares declined and nearly 386 shares remained unchanged.

Among the frontline stocks, Suzlon Energy, Idea Cellular, DLF, Tata Motors, Unitech, Jaiprakash Associates, Sterlite Industries and Reliance Infrastructure were top losers.

Midcap Index fell 153.75 points (-2.94%) to finish at 5,076.34.

Smallcap Index declined 147.82 points (-2.51%) to end at 5,740.04.

Total trading turnover stood at Rs 78,432.23 crore. This included Rs 19,313.04 crore from the NSE cash segment, Rs 52,352.53 crore from the NSE F&O and rest Rs 6,766.66 crore from BSE cash segment.

Global cues

Asian markets ended mixed. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Jakarta Composite were down 0.34-0.81%. However, Nikkei gained 1.79%. Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted rose 0.6% each. Kospi was up just 0.12%.

European markets were almost flat by the time Indian markets closed for trading. FTSE was trading down 4.82 points at 4289.21, CAC lost 7.28 to trade at 3186.20 and DAX was trading down 8.53 points at 4876.56. US futures were trading marginally in the green.

Trading Activity

Realty index plunged 7.42% to settle at 3,207.19. HDIL plunged 12.19%. Indiabulls Real, DLF, Unitech, Orbit Corporation, Parsvnath, Anant Raj Industries, Omaxe and Sobha Developer were down 2.5-8%.

Metals index lost 3.42% to close at 10,830.90. Sterlite Industries, Jindal Saw, SAIL, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, Sesa Goa, Tata Steel and Hindalco lost 1.5-6%. Hindalco FY09 consolidated net profit declined to Rs 12.5 crore versus Rs 355 crore. Board approved raising up to $500 million via QIP.

Power index finished lower by 3.19% at 2,842.34. Suzlon Energy tumbled 11.44%. GMR Infra, GVK Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, Neyveli Lignite, Power Grid Corp, Torrent Power and NTPC were down 1-8.8%.

Capital Goods index went down by 3.18% to finish at 12,797.27. Punj Lloyd, Siemens, ABB, L&T and BHEL lost 1.4-5.5%.

Bankex declined 2.45% to settle at 8,211.48. Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank fell 3.5-5.8%. SBI, Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank slipped 1% each.

Oil & gas index lost 2.32% to end at 9,390.15. Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industries tanked 3% each. IOC and HPCL fell 1.5-2.5%. Cairn India was down 0.53% and ONGC was flat.

Pharma index fell 2.03% to close at 3,551.87. Sun Pharma Advanced, Aurobindo Pharma, Wockhardt, Glenmark, Ranbaxy Labs, Biocon and Cipla slipped 3-6%; Sun Pharma and Dr Reddys Labs also fell.

Auto index tumbled 1.98% to shut shop at 4,558.43. Tata Motors plunged over 7%. Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge, Bajaj Auto, Apollo Tyres and M&M declined 1.6-5.5%.

Among Telecom stocks; Idea Cellular plunged 8%. Reliance Communication and Tata Teleservices lost 5.5% each. MTNL was down 3.57% and Bharti Airtel fell 0.66%.

Sugar stocks like Bajaj Hindusthan tumbled 10.32%. Balrampur Chini, Dhampur Sugar, Dharani Sugars, Dwarikesh Sugar, Oudh Sugar Mill, Ponni Sugars (E), Rajshree Sugars, Shree Renuka Sugars, Simbhaoli Sugar, Triveni Engg, Upper Ganges Sugar and Uttam Sugar tumbled 4-7%.