The Hindu : Business : Sensex plunges 368 points

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006
ePaper

Business

Business

Sensex plunges 368 points

Special Correspondent

Fall in line with weak Asian markets; heavy selling by hedge funds

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index (Sensex) plunged on Monday on account of heavy selling across the board in line with Asian markets. It was the biggest single day fall for both the indices, Sensex and Nifty, since July 17, the day when the Sensex had lost 385 points on weak global markets. The Sensex lost 367.96 points or 3.09 per cent to close at 11550.69 and Nifty 105.30 points or 3.03 per cent at 3366.15 on Monday.

While all the BSE sectoral indices closed in the negative, the BSE Midcap index lost 3.4 per cent to close at 4871.46 and the BSE Small Cap index lost 3.4 per cent at 5829.30.

Among major sectoral indices, the BSE Oil and Gas index lost 2.7 per cent at 5589.59, BSE FMCG lost 4 per cent at 1956.36, BSE IT index lost 3.2 per cent at 4138.27, BSE Bankex lost 2.55 per cent to close at 5225.37, BSE Metal index dipped by 5.7 per cent at 8137.41, BSE Capital Goods index by 3.4 per cent at 7807.56 and the BSE Auto index by 3.67 per cent at 5016.08.

The BSE recorded a turnover of Rs. 3,406.61 crore as compared to Rs. 3,503.29 crore on Friday.

Last week the Sensex closed at 11918.65 compared to its previous week's (ended September 1) close of 11778.02. A fall was also recorded on the London Metals Exchange (LME) along with other stock exchanges in Asia and Europe. Key indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were down between 0.8 per cent and 1.7 per cent. In Europe, the key benchmark indices in London, Germany and France were down.

PTI reports

Hedge funds were engaged in heavy selling in the futures & options segment during the day, brokers said. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which pulled out about Rs. 1,646 crore in derivatives on September 7 and 8, were heavy sellers while mutual funds and retailers remained sidelined, they added.

Hedge funds were heavy sellers all over the world, particularly in emerging markets, a leading broker commented. The gains were over stretched during the last seven weeks and Monday's fall is seen as necessary for the market's sound health.

Major market players reducing their holdings in counters such as Reliance Communications and L & T, which are set to enter the Futures and Options trade on September 15, also acted as a major drag in the already weak market.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News Update

Stories in this Section