Indian stock market bleeds; Sensex, Nifty down over 2.5 pc

Mumbai: Amidst global market meltdown, Indian benchmark indices too bled with the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 losing over 2,222 points and 662 points respectively as there was panic selling across all counters right from the word go.

The BSE Sensex closed at 78,759.4 down 2.74 per cent and the Nifty 50 managed to retain 24000-mark and closed at 24,055.6 down 2.68 per cent.

When contacted, a leading broker said there are various factors which pulled the market down. Fears of recession in the US was the main reason for global meltdown especially after last week’s disappointing employment data and also Central Bank’s decision to keep rates unchanged for the time being.

Besides global factors domestic issues like unimpressive Q1 financial performance of industries and overvaluation of the market also contributed to today’s crash.

The sentiments were so negative with only five Nifty companies advancing while 45 declined. Five companies which advanced marginally high are HUL, Nestle< HDFC Life Insurance, Britannia and Tata Consumers.

The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) had sold equities worth Rs 3,310 crore in the last trading session while the Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) had bought Rs 2,966 crore, according to data available.

The volatility index today rose 42.25 per cent.

Among global markets, NIKKEI was down by whopping 12.4 per cent, Hang Seng down 1.46 per cent.

Significant losers were Tata Motors by 7.32 per cent to Rs 1016.65, Adani Ports by 5.93 per cent to Rs 1493.65, Tata Steel by 5.31 per cent to Rs 149.80, SBI by 4.34 per cent to Rs 811.10 and Powergrid by 4.19 per cent to Rs 343.

The gainers were Hind Unilever by 0.83 per cent to Rs 2715.90 and Nestle India Ltd by 0.75 per cent to Rs 2513.

Sources in the trading community said that the US Central bank may reconsider its stand on slashing interest rate but cautioned that market is likely to remain volatile in the coming few sessions.