The Hindu : Business : Sensex crashes 307 points

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 13, 2006

Business

Business

Sensex crashes 307 points

Special Correspondent

Across-the-board selling witnessed; Asian markets too closed weak

MUMBAI: As the earning season just began, stock prices tumbled on Wednesday and the benchmark index, Sensex, closed 306.82 points down. This is the fourth-biggest fall ever and the largest fall since black Monday on May 17, 2004.

Selling was witnessed in sectors such as banking, technology, automobile, cement, fast moving consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. After being choppy in the opening trades, sell-off gripped the bourses in the afternoon trades as the market witnessed volatile movement. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been net sellers in the last four trading days, in the Future & Options (F&O) segment, to the tune of Rs. 4,500 crore.

Asian markets too closed weak on Wednesday with the Nikkei Index slipping by 256 points, and Hang Seng by 165 points. The U.S. markets witnessed a sell-off on Tuesday due to worries about higher oil prices, inflation and Iran's reluctance to curb its nuclear ambitions. The U.S. light crude oil for May delivery gained 24 cents to settle at $68.98 a barrel.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) opened at 11,693.15, touched a high of 11,702.77 and a low of 11,302.78 before finally closing at 11,355.73, losing 306.82 points or 2.63 per cent against 11,662.55. The NSE Nifty lost 98.45 points to close at 3380. In fact, the Sensex went up by 21 per cent in the current year. All the 30 stocks of Sensex closed in the red.

However, select metal stocks hogged the limelight as the metal prices firmed up on the London Metals Exchange (LME). Copper rose to above $6,000 a tonne in London for the first time on Tuesday and zinc prices surged to new highs.

TCS, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Hero Honda, Cipla, Grasim, Satyam Computer, VSNL and MTNL were the biggest losers.

Technology stocks such as MphasiS BFL, Infosys Technologies, Patni Computers, Wipro, HCL Technologies and HCL Infosystems witnessed huge selling pressure.

Among the automobile stocks, Escorts, TVS Motor M&M and Ashok Leyland lost ground. The BSE Auto index closed at 5272.91, down 3.06 per cent or 166.50 points.

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