New Delhi: It was a biggest single-day fall for Sensex on a day when the bourses registered highest ever turnover of Rs 60,463 crore.
The markets spooked following a sharp selloff by FIIs in the F&O segment on March 7. All the sectoral indices ended in red, suggesting a widespread selloff with metal stocks the biggest losers.
The Sensex closed down 216.82 points or 2.02 per cent at 10,508.85. It touched an intraday high of 10740.60 and an intraday low of 10493.91. It was the biggest single-day fall for Sensex since September 22, 2005.
The Nifty closed down 66.10 points or 2.08 per cent at 3116.70. It touched an intraday high of 3187.50 and an intraday low of 3107.90.
The CNX MIdcap closed down 81.25 points or 1.75 per cent at 4564.05. It touched an intraday high of 4681.50 and an intraday low of 4556.10.
The BSE Small Cap Index closed down 66.94 points or 1.05 per cent at 6292.47. The BSE Midcap Index closed down 66.66 points or 1.33 per cent at 4962.57.
Unperturbed by the 217-points fall in Sensex, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said it was nothing but a 'correction'.
"It's a correction. It's nothing," he told reporters reacting to the benchmark index's 217 points fall to 10,508.85, the steepest since September 22, 2005.
After heavy withdrawals of Rs 1,488 crore in the Nifty futures and Rs 395 crore in stocks futures by FIIs, investors frantically sold shares across the board bringing down the Sensex.
While dismissing any cause for worry in the capital market, Chidambaram expects huge advance tax payments by corporates in the coming days and a liquidity crunch in the banking system.
"Liquidity will be tight as there will be a huge amount of advance tax payments (by corporates) in March," he said,
adding that government had privately placed bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore with RBI on Monday.
The finance minister said states should spend more to ease liquidity in the system. "States are sitting on huge cash
surplus of over Rs 50,000 crore. They should spend."
The market turnover was at an all-time high of Rs 60,469.44 crore. Also, the F&O turnover was at an all-time high of Rs 44,097.66 crore.
FIIs were net sellers of Rs 1,598.50 crore in F&O and Rs 1,488.32 crore in Nifty Futures on March 7.
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The BSE Metal Index underperformed the other indices. It closed down 4.32 per cent at 7539.29 amid losses in Jindal Stainless, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Nalco, Sail, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel.
FMCG stocks including HLL, McDowell, Shaw Wallace, Dabur India, Colagte, ITC, Britannia, P&G and Nirma also witnessed selling pressure. The BSE FMCG Index closed down 2.77 per cent at 1989.29.
Consumer durables stocks like Titan Industries, Su-Raj Diamonds, BPL and Samtel Color also ended lower. The BSE Consumer Durables Index closed down 2.62 per cent at 3189.20.
Auto stocks including Hindustan Motors, Escorts, Ashok Leyland, Cummins, Maruti, Tube Investment, Tata Motors, M&M and Bajaj Auto also lost ground. The BSE Auto Index closed down 1.84 per cent at 5240.74.
Losses were also seen in oil stocks including MRPL, ONGC, Gail, Reliance, Chennai Petro, HPCL, Kochi Refineries and IOC. The BSE Oil & Gas Index closed down 1.65 per cent at 4461.05.
The BSE Bankex closed down 1.44 per cent at 5151.58 due to selling in Kotak Mahindra, Union Bank, Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, IOB, Oriental Bank, Bank of Baroda, SBI and ICICI Bank.
Technology stocks including HCL Tech, Wipro, i-flex Solutions, MphasiS BFL, Moser Baer, Infosys and Satyam also ended in the red. The BSE IT Index closed down 1.18 per cent at 3695.14.
Pharma stocks like Matrix Lab, Wockhardt, Lupin, Divi's Labs, GSK Pharma, Nicholas Piramal, Glenmark, Ranbaxy Labs and Biocon also finished lower. The BSE Healthcare Index closed down 1.09 per cent at 3609.87.
Selling was also seen in capital goods stocks like KEC Infrastructure, Aban Loyd Chiles, Gammon India, Praj Industries, Larsen, BHEL, Ingersoll Rand and Dredging Corporation. The BSE Capital Goods Index closed down 0.64 per cent at 7890.82.
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