The Indian markets broke two-day rise and closed on a weak note. The Sensex fell 283 points and the Nifty down 102 points
Headlines for the day
India’s GDP to grow at 7.1% in FY12: Rangarajan
ONGC gains as EGoM likely to consider disinvestments
Sun Pharma rises as US to import Lipodox from India
MCX raises $19.4 mn in pre-IPO share sale
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Indian indices
The Indian markets witnessed a drastic fall in the afternoon session following weak European cues after downbeat economic data from the euro zone fuelled worries about recession. Investors booked profits across the board as markets have climbed to its highest close in nearly seven months.
Heavy losses in realty, consumer durables, metal, banking, power and capital goods stocks weighed on the sentiments. Major heavyweight draggers — SBI, RIL, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and DLF. It was the biggest fall for markets in the last 16 sessions.
Sensex movement: The Sensex opened the trade 62 points higher at 18491 and immediately touched an intraday high of 18524. Later the index remained rangebound amid volatility as the session progressed. However, a sudden fall was seen in the afternoon session on the back of weak European cues and profit booking. Extending losses, the index touched an intraday low of 18096 in late trade. The Sensex closed 283 points lower at 18145 and the Nifty fell by 102 points to settle at 5505.
Market sentiment
The market breadth stood in favour of declines. Of the 3083 stocks traded on the BSE, 769 (24.94%) rose, 2208 (71.62%) fell and 106 (3.44%) were unchanged.
Viewing volumes
An integrated infrastructure development company — Lanco Infratech was traded the most, with over 2.32 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that, wind turbine major – Suzlon Energy (1.21 crore shares), India's second largest developer - Unitech (1.11 crore shares), real estate development company - HDIL (0.63 crore shares) and an Indian integrated oil and gas company - Essar Oil (0.63 crore shares).
Sectoral & stock screening
All the sectoral indices closed lower except BSE IT up by 0.45%. Top three losers are - BSE Realty dipped by 6.77%, BSE CD fell by 4.93% and BSE Metal dropped by 4.29%.
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers - Tata Communications gained by 6.66%, Coromandel Engineering jumped by 3.17% and Gitanjali Gems advanced by 3.15%. Top three losers - Lanco Infratech dipped by 16.94%, United Spirits slipped 14.26% and GMR Infrastructure declined by 11.50%.
Global indices
The European shares slipped from their recent seven-month high on Wednesday (February 22, 2012) as downbeat economic data from the euro zone fuelled worries about recession, and concern continued about Greece even after it secured a bailout.
The Asian stock markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday, boosted by news that China's manufacturing sector rose to a four-month high in February.
The US stock index futures pointed to a mixed opening for Wall Street on Wednesday.
Market Outlook: US Existing Home Sales will be in focus on Wednesday.