Sensex sheds 280 points, ends in red

The Indian markets, which remained volatile for the entire day and were trading within a narrow range, lost over 1.5% in the afternoon hours. The markets went down largely after heavy selling was witnessed in SBI and DLF. Metals and Power stocks were also seen under pressure. By closing time, the BSE Sensex was down by 283 points, while Nifty was down by 101 points.

Other Asian markets also remained volatile for the entire day. In the afternoon, when the Chinese PMI data was available, the markets showed some recovery. The Nikkei and Shanghai were up by 0.9% each, while Hang Seng was up by 0.33%.

Earlier, the European markets opened with mixed trends. By this hour, all the 3 key indices are down, with DAX taking the major beatings.

The sentiment in the US markets is bit negative, with Dow Jones Futures currently trading 4 points or 0.03% down at 12941.

Back home, most of the sectoral indices closed in negatives. The only index that closed positive was IT, which was up due to TCS and Infosys, which traded firm for the day and ended in the gainers list. The Realty index was top loser. Sterlite Industries took the maximum beatings after media reports that the company will merge its business with Sesa Goa. CD, Metals, Power and Bankex were also down by over 3% each.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, only 6 ended up as gainers. Beside TCS and Infosys, Sun Pharma, ITC, ONGC and HDFC Bank ended up in gain. SBI lost by 7.91% after it announced financial aid to Kingfisher Airlines.

Lanco Infra lost by 16.84% today. Other infra stocks such as IRB Infra and GMR Infra were also down by over 10% each. JSW Energy, United Spirits, Voltas and REC took beatings and were among the top losers in the 'A' group category.

Kingfisher Airlines, which was popping in and out of the gainers list, lost by 6.53% in the end. Other aviation stocks also closed in negatives.

Among the major corporate announcements, Reliance Communication has signed a refinancing agreement for its outstanding FCCBs with various Chinese lenders. The stock, however, ended in negatives.

The overall market breadth remained negative today. Out of a total of 3413 stocks traded on the BSE, 812 advanced, 2495 declined and 106 remained unchanged.

With another rate cut expected and FIIs seen investing money, we believe that today’s downfall has brought an opportunity to buy fundamentally good stocks. Investors might as well grab it.