Markets End Deep in Red

Markets extended losses in the afternoon trades due to losses in metal and financial shares as inflation continued to remain high and industrial output data showed a sharp month on month rise raising expectations that RBI will tighten further. The Nifty opened in the red and touched a high of 5,537 after the IIP data but the recovery in the mid-morning session was short lived. High week on week inflation at 7.7% and uncertainty over outcome of election results frayed investors’ nerves taking the index to a low of 5,476. Selling pressure was witnessed in the frontline stocks – ICICI Bank, HDFC, Reliance Industries and TCS dragging the benchmark Sensex down by over 100 points. The S&P CNX Nifty closed near day’s low at 5486, down 79 points and the Sensex slipped 249 points, at 18,335. Industrial output growth rose by a better-than-expected at 7.3% y-o-y in March, from 3.7% in February, led by a sharp rebound in capital goods.