Sensex quotes below 10 k, ends low by 385.79 pts

Mumbai, Nov 6: The downslide in the Sensex continued for the second straight session on Thursday, Nov 6 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, ending below 10 k and nosediving by another 385.79 points to close in red at 9734.22 in volatile trade due to heavy selling pressure by Foreign Institutional Investors.

The Sensex has crashed steeply by 896.90 points in the last two sessions on weak global cues. The top heavyweight stocks were shattered after unexpected increase in inflation numbers and sell off in global indices. The Nifty index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed below 3000 mark and ended in negative terrain at 2892.65, with a loss of 102.30 points. Nifty index declined steeply by 249.45 points in the last two sessions. Metal stocks led the crash followed by oil, telecom, technology, banking and auto stocks. Midcap and small cap stocks were also under pressure.

Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, SBI, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Communication and Tata Motors suffered setbacks.

Frontline indices opened with huge gap down following profit booking in global indices and remained weak till this afternoon. Key shares suffered a setback as European indices pushed the markets sharply lower again.

The Sensex hit an intraday low of 9,635.22, showing downslide of 484.79 points from the previous close. The Nifty has touched a low of 2860.25, down 134.7 points in intra day trade.

Inflation came in higher at 10.72 per cent for the week ended October 25 as against 10.68 pc in previous week.

On the global front, European markets were trading sharply lower.

FTSE, CAC and DAX lost 4-4.5 pc. Asian markets ended in negative terrain on disappointing results and negative outlook. Hang Seng lost 7.08 pc and Kospi fell 7.56 pc. Nikkei and Taiwan tumbled 6.53 pc and 5.71 pc respectively. Shanghai, Jakarta and Straits Times fell 2.44-4.27 pc which reflected in downward trend at the Indian bourses, brokers pointed out.

The market breadth was weak with 1611 shares losing and 892 stocks gaining on BSE. A total of 81 stocks were unchanged. BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 3841 crore as against Rs 4,983.72 crore on previous day.

UNI