Sensex crashes by 455 pts during the week-ended

Mumbai, Mar 17 (UNI) The BSE Sensex drifted lower by 454.59 points for the week ended yesterday, to settle at 12,430.40, compared with the previous week's closing of 12,884.99 on March 9, 2007.

Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE also declined 109.45 points, to finish at 3,608.55, compared with the previous week's closing of 3,718.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose by 7.13 points for the week ended March 16, 2007, to settle at 5,235.57. The BSE Small-Cap Index hiked by 23.59 points, to 6,274.64.

A leading stock-broker said,'' The week was extremely volatile and the Sensex traded below the psychologically-important 13,000 mark for most days in the week ended March 16 2007. The market declined despite the Sensex gaining in three out of the five trading sessions for this week ended.

A global market meltdown, due to a deepening US mortgage lending crisis, coupled with higher inflation data pushed the market lower.

The market edged higher on Monday, tracking firm Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 17.64 points (0.14 per cent), to settle at 12,902.63. The market had surged in the early-afternoon, and the benchmark Sensex jumped as many as 171.87 points, to 13,056.86 at intra-day trades.

On Tuesday, the barometer Sensex settled with gains, as buying resumed in the late afternoon session, with IT, metals and select pivotals leading the charge. Real estate stocks rebounded after a severe pounding, which had eroded 25 to 50 per cent value in such stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 80.35 points (0.62 per cent) higher, at 12,982.98.

On Wednesday , a fresh setback put paid to the recovery on the domestic bourses that had just started coming into their own, drawing inspiration from the promise showed by global bourses. The trigger for Wednesday's fall was a setback on bourses around the globe due to a deepening US mortgage lending crisis. The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 453.36 points (3.4 per cent), to settle at 12,529.62 on that day. It was the Sensex's biggest daily point fall since March 5 2007, brokers added.

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