Sensex plunges by 456.39 points on inflation worries

{image-sensex, big_11072008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Mumbai, Jul 11: The Sensex on Friday, July 11, nosedived by 456.39 points and fell below the 13,500 mark on the Bombay Stock Exchange to close at 13,469.85 on worries over Inflation, which climbed upto 11.89 per cent.

The benchmark index of BSE, that opened strong above the 14K mark in early trade, failed to sustain gains after reports came in of high inflation rate and rising crude oil prices.It fell at a day's low of 13,351.34, lost nearly 575 points on strong selling pressure across the sector in late trade, before ending the day with a loss of 3.28 per cent. Similarly, the broader based Nifty index of National Stock Exchagne tumbled 148 points at a low of 4,014.45 and finally closed 133.20 points down at 4049 in late trade.

Market fell sharply in the second half of the session after reports that inflation had moved to 11.89 per cent in the week ended June 28 and on the other hand global crude oil price shot up over USD 144 per barrel, brokers said.

Meanwhile Industrial production was quoted at 3.8 per cent in May 2008, much lower than revised 6.2 per cent growth in April 2008, the government data released today showed.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.01 per cent at 5,365.34, while the Small-Cap index was down 1.33 per cent at 6,713.66. The market breadth was negative, with 1635 losing as compared to 1013 that gained and 62 stocks remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5299 crore as against Rs 4,825.81 crore in the previous session.

UNI