Sensex ends on a weak note, slides below 16K mark
Chandrakant / 12 Dec 2011
After extending their losses, the Indian markets ended the day with a huge fall. The Sensex closed below the 16000 mark and the Nifty closed at 4774 – both the indices were down by 2%. Weak IIP numbers and the negative opening of the European market added insult to investors' injuries. Asian markets and later those in Europe contributed to the fall later in the day.
The European markets open in the red and are currently trading weak on the back of concerns that the solution by the EU summit will not be an end to all the problems and more measures are needed to control the crisis.
The Asian markets came off the day’s high and closed in the red, amidst concerns over the European debt crisis, which continues to undermine sentiments. China's Shanghai Composite closed in the red on worries about the country’s slowing economy.
Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 82 points or 0.68% down at 12128, indicating a negative sentiment in the US markets.
| Benchmark Indices | ||
| Index | Closing | % Change |
| Sensex | 15695.43 | -1.03 |
| Nifty | 4710.65 | -0.98 |
| Hang Seng | 18575.66 | -0.06 |
| Nikkei | 8653.82 | 1.36 |
| Shanghai | 2291.54 | -1.04 |
| Live | ||
| FTSE | 5488.36 | -0.74 |
| DAX | 5869.4 | -2.00 |
| CAC | 3124.51 | -1.53 |
In a weak economic environment and lower IIP numbers, all the BSE sectoral indices barring IT ended the day in the red. Sectors like Metals, Bankex, and Oil & Gas took a huge beating by over 3%-4% each. The other sectoral indices were down between 1%-3%. IT stocks remained on the top, gaining by 1%.
| Sectoral Indices | |||
| Category/Index | Close | Change(Pts) | Change (%) |
| Broad | |||
| MIDCAP | 5,513.91 | -106.94 | -1.90 |
| SMLCAP | 5,960.48 | -93.03 | -1.54 |
| BSE-100 | 8,217.19 | -176.77 | -2.11 |
| BSE-200 | 1,924.72 | -41.54 | -2.11 |
| BSE-500 | 6,024.15 | -127.64 | -2.07 |
| Sectors | |||
| IT | 5,787.82 | 54.33 | 0.95 |
| TECk | 3,404.08 | -9.30 | -0.27 |
| FMCG | 3,963.50 | -25.67 | -0.64 |
| HC | 5,908.03 | -50.69 | -0.85 |
| CD | 5,588.89 | -115.70 | -2.03 |
| CG | 9,165.47 | -229.40 | -2.44 |
| AUTO | 8,304.42 | -217.29 | -2.55 |
| POWER | 1,874.47 | -50.47 | -2.62 |
| REALTY | 1,535.07 | -42.06 | -2.67 |
| PSU | 6,654.42 | -190.20 | -2.78 |
| OIL&GAS | 7,797.21 | -224.74 | -2.80 |
| BANKEX | 9,854.61 | -302.44 | -2.98 |
| METAL | 9,988.72 | -431.58 | -4.14 |
Back home, Tata Power and Hindalco Industries remain the top losers among the Sensex heavyweights, closing down with 6% losses. Other stocks like Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, DLF, Bajaj Auto, SBI, ONGC, Jindal Steel and Jaiprakash Associates also fell between 2.62%-5% each. Bharti Airtel fell 4.15% on the BSE today to Rs 343.80.
The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was very negative. Out of a total of 3192 stocks traded on the BSE, 2222 declined, 846 advanced and 124 remained unchanged.
| Advance-Decline Table | |||
| Index | Advances | Declines | Unchanged |
| BSE 30 | 3 | 27 | 0 |
| BSE 200 | 27 | 173 | 0 |
| BSE 100 | 13 | 87 | 0 |
| BSE 500 | 75 | 421 | 4 |
| Others | 728 | 1514 | 120 |
In conclusion, we expect the markets to remain negative, as investors remain jittery about investing in markets that fail to provide any concrete direction. We advise our readers to stay cautious.