Markets end on a weak note

Mumbai, Feb 27: Although the market managed to crawl back from the day"s lows, it ended on a weak note. Realty, oil & gas and technology stocks were the biggest losers in Friday"s trade.

The fairly dismal GDP data took a toll on sentiment. The country"s economy grew 5.3 per cent in the December quarter from a year earlier, slowing sharply from the previous quarter's 7.6 per cent as the global economic crisis slashed demand and exports.

Adding to its woes, the Indian rupee too slumped to its life-time low in afternoon trading to 51 against a dollar on heavy demand for the US currency.

Bombay Stock Exchange"s Sensex ended at 8,874.21, down 80.65 points or 0.90 per cent. The index slumped to a low of 8,728.66 after opening at a high of 8,944.11.

National Stock Exchange"s Nifty lost 26.85 points or 0.96 per cent to 2758.80, coming off a low of 2708.45.
4.18PM

Mkts tumble; RIL, Infosys draggers
Markets continue to trade weak as all sectoral indices are trading negative. Out of BSE Sensex 30 stocks, only HDFC is trading positive. Reliance, Infosys, ITC, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank are major draggers to the Sensex.

The BSE realty index is worst hit; it is down 3.42%. Heavy selling pressure is also seen in oil & gas, metal, IT, power, auto and capital goods stocks. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices are down half percent form their previous close.

The Sensex was down 201.85 points or 2.25% at 8753.01, and the Nifty was down 63.20 points or 2.27 pc at 2722.45, at 1.52 pm.

Top losers on the Sensex are Reliance Infra at Rs 481.30 down 5.53 pc, Wipro at Rs 205.00 down 5.07 pc, Grasim at Rs 1,385 down 5.06%, M&M at Rs 305 down 4.91 pc and ACC at Rs 532.20 down 4.9pc.
2.26 PM

Nifty nosedives as Q3 GDP disappoints

Key indices took a beating on Friday as sentiments turned bearish after India"s Q3 GDP grew at a slower pace of 5.3 per cent against a forecast of 6.2 per cent.

It grew at 7.6 pc in the September 2008 quarter and 7.9 pc in the June 2008 quarter.At 11:15 am, National Stock Exchange"s Nifty was at 2724.60, down 61.1 points or 2.20 per cent. The index touched an intra-day low of 2722.50 and a high of 2787.20 in trade so far.

Bombay Stock Exchange"s Sensex was at 8764.62, down 190.24 points or 2.12 per cent. It touched a low of 8764.62 and a high of 8944.11.
11.42 AM

Quiet opening for equities; IT down
Stocks opened on a flat note with a negative bias on Friday, Feb 27 as global cues weighed on sentiment. Secondline stocks turned positive after a sharp fall in Thursday"s trade.

Bombay Stock Exchange"s 30-share Sensex fell 42.85 points to 8912.01. National Stock Exchange"s benchmark Nifty slipped 14.6 points to 2771.05 from its previous close.

US stocks fell in volatile trade on Thursday as a spate of sour economic data and worries that President Obama's budget proposal will strangle profits forced investors to sell off stocks across the board.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88.81 points, or 1.22 percent, to 7,182.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 12.07 points, or 1.58 percent, to 752.83 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 33.96 points, or 2.38 per cent, at 1,391.47.

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