Markets Close in Red

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 5.5% to 10,810. The Nasdaq plunged almost 7% to 2,358, and the S&P index cracked 6.7% at 1,119. Mirroring the losses in the US markets, Asia too was deep into red at the opening bell. The major markets like Hang Seng tumbled nearly 8%, and Seoul Composite collapsed almost 10% in early trades. Nikkei and Straits Times too dropped around 5% each, while Shanghai Composite declined around 3.5%. The markets losses could have been higher had it not been for stocks like ITC, HDFC and Mahindra & Mahindra, which collectively contributed 82 points to the Sensex. The Sensex closed the day at 16857 down by 132 points while the Nifty closed at 5072 down by 45 points. In terms of per cent age, Tata's trio of TCS, Tata Motors and Tata Steel were the major losers, all down over 4% each. Cipla, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Wipro were the other major losers. On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra soared nearly 5%. DLF, ITC, Jaiprakash Associates, Bajaj Auto and HDFC were the other major gainers, up around 2% each. The BSE IT index plunged 3.5% to 5,041. Apart from the three IT majors - HCL Technologies, MphasiS and Patni Computer also ended with steep losses. The BSE Metal and the Health care indices ended with losses of 2.5% each. Given the broad-based sell-off, the market breadth remained unfavorable yet again. Nearly 70% of the BSE traded stocks ended lower, while 28% stocks advanced today.