Sensex crashes by 400 pts, closes at 13,399.43

Mumbai, Dec 11: The Sensex today crashed to a low of 13,399.43, with a whopping loss of 400.06 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on sustained heavy selling pressure by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and domestic investors.

Brokers said,'' A hike in cash reserve ratio by the RBI and data showing heavy FII sales in index-based futures on December 8, rattled the bourses, which bucked the steady-to-firm trend in Asian and European shares''.

Bank shares witnessed panic-selling. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) weakened in late-trading.

The Sensex lost 400.06 points (2.9 per cent), to settle at 13,399.43, before registering a low of 13,783. It crossed 13,800 mark and touched a new high at 13,801.43 in intra-day session.But it came down at 13,261.73 during the mid-session.

Volatility was high in the second half of the trading session.After a fall of a massive 537.76 points, to 13,261.73 by 1259 hrs,the Sensex staged an instant recovery from a lower level, to reach at 13,463 at 1321 hrs, a fall of about 336 points for the day.

The BSE BANKEX Index crashed steeply by 463.96 points and closed at 6749.78 followed by METAL Index by 361.45 points and touched a low of 8679.75, PSU index by 241.12 points and touched 5974.06, CG index by 220.46 points and closed at 9133.37. SML CAP index fell by 182.11 points and touched 6548.31, AUTO index by 149.12 and closed at 5244.04, MID CAP index by 144.00 and touched 5601.54, OIL&GAS index by 129.10 and touched 5966.36, TECK index by 70.65 and closed at 3506.98 and IT index was down by 41.09 points to touch 5089.

The market-breadth was quite weak. For 1,974 shares that declined on BSE, 589 rose. As many as 43 shares were unchanged. The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4,830 crore.

The S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE opened flat at 3961.90, later it recorded a high and low at 3965.05 and 3798.30 respectively and finally closed low at 3849.50 with a loss of 113 points from the last close of 3962.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, on Monday, said an increase in the cash reserve ratio for banks was to moderate credit growth and the government was ready to take further action to curb inflation. In a surprise move, the RBI hiked cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 points after trading hours on Friday. ''Banking scrips will adjust because their profitability is good. The stock market is on a high so no need to worry,'' Chidambaram opined.

Nymex Crude remained almost unchanged, at USD 62 a barrel.

UNI