Mumbai: The Sensex today plunged over 330 points in tandem with rupee breaching 64-mark but regained lost ground to a great extent to end only 61 points lower in line with the recovery of the currency from record lows.
While suspected RBI intervention lifted the battered domestic currency from yet another all-time low of 64.11 to trade at 63.5 levels, emergence of value-buying in beaten down shares helped the 30-share benchmark index Sensex rebound.
The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer resumed lower and dipped below the 18,000 mark for the first time since September 2012 to a low of 17,970.98. However, helped by value-buying it settled the day at 18,246.04, a fall of 61.48 points or 0.34 per cent.
In three days, Sensex has lost over 1,100 points as a depreciating rupee jolted capital markets.
The 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE declined further by 13.30 points, 0.25 per cent, to end at nearly 12-month lows of 5,401.45. It had touched an intra-day low of 5,306.35.
Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed at 10829.76 with a loss of 52 points.
Fall in Tata Motors, TCS, HDFC, Sun Pharma, M&M and ONGC mainly contributed to Sensex loss while rise in ICICI Bank, Sterlite, HUL, SBI and Tata Steel capped fall to a major extent.
Consumer durables, auto, pharma and IT shares were at the receiving end while stock
from metal and realty attracted buying interest, brokers said.
“The Indian equity market is passing through an extremely volatile phase, where the broader trend is down. And clearly the selling pressure in the market is due to weak macros, weaker outlook on macros, and the sharp rise in USD/INR,” said Milan Bavishi- Head Research, Inventure Growth and Securities.Factors like concerns over the economic recovery, high inflation and widening current account deficit (CAD) put pressure on the
market initially, they added.
Weakness in global markets also impacted domestic markets negatively while capital outflows also hit the sentiment hard.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 680.08 crore yesterday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Most Asian stocks retreated following a fourth straight day of losses on the Wall Street. Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan ended lower by 0.62-2.63 per cent.
European stock markets were trading lower in their early trade with investors cautious of placing any new positions ahead of the release of minutes from the latest US Federal Reserve meeting.
Key benchmark indices in the UK, France and Germany were down by 0.66 per cent to 1.61 per cent.
Turning back to the domestic market, 16 scrips out of the 30-share Sensex pack finished lower while 14 ended higher.
“RBI had to intervene today as state-run banks sold dollars to curb the currency's weakness. Rupee recovered from its day's low, however remains a major cause of concern for Indian markets at present,” said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
Major Sensex losers were Tata Motors (4.66 pc), Sun Pharma (2.42 pc), TCS (2.39 pc), M&M (2.38 pc), ONGC (1.95 pc), Tata Power (1.93 pc), BHEL (1.79 pc), Wipro (1.78 pc), Hero Motocorp (1.40 pc) and HDFC (1.26 pc).
However, Sterlite Industries zoomed up by 9.91 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (4.09 pc), Coal India (2.08 pc), ICICI Bank (1.77 pc), SBI (1.51 pc) and Hindalco (1.51 pc).
Among the sectoral indices, S&P BSE-CD dropped by 3.54 per cent, followed by S&P BSE-Auto (2.26 pc), S&P BSE-HC (1.59 pc), S&P BSE-IT (1.40 pc) and S&P BSE-Teck (1.13 pc). However, S&P BSE -Metal rose by 4.84 per cent and S&P BSE-Realty ended higher by 2.49 per cent.
The total market breadth turned positive as 1,174 shares ending with gains and 1,100 finishing with losses and 126 ruled steady. The total turnover rose to Rs 1,941.27 crore from Rs 1,844.66 crore yesterday.
