Sensex tanks 413 points to 24489 on weak global cues

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 24,257.28 points, against the previous close at 24,188.37 points.

However, IMF retained India’s growth outlook at 7.3 per cent for the current fiscal and 7.5 per cent in the next two even as it lowered the world projection on slumping oil and commodity prices.

During the intra-day trade, the Sensex touched a high of 24,524.85 points and a low of 24,141.99 points – its new low in 52 weeks.

Market breadth was extremely disappointing as losers outpaced gainers by over 3:1, with 2,105 stocks declining against 511 advances on BSE.

“Bearish cues – such as the plunge in exports, lower closing of U.S. markets on Friday, and continuous weakness in oil prices and absence of any fresh triggers pulled-down markets”, Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty slipped below the 7300-mark by crashing 147.95 points or 1.98 per cent to quote 7,287.15. While the mainland China remained more restrained on imminent policy stimulus, the Hong Kong markets suffered severe sell-off. All the three European gauges were down over 3 percent mirroring the weak global markets cues. Back home, the small-cap ended in the negative zone by falling 4.05 per cent while the mid-cap dropped 2.72 per cent. Some good earnings along with value based buying at lower levels supported the markets in last, however sustained selling pressure in heavyweights after a feeble start of the European markets, weighed on the sentiments and restricted any major recovery.

Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 27 fell, while only Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Wipro managed to eke out minor gains.

“Indian markets once again saw a sharp cut in the last hour of trade after trading choppy earlier in the day”.

As regards the global economy, the International Monetary Fund has said that amid overall worries, India was expected to grow the fastest this year and the next, at 7.5 percent per annum, to outpace Chinese expansion, pegged at 6.3 percent 6 percent, respectively. The measure has fallen 18.5 percent from its January 2015 peak, nearing the 20 percent threshold for a bear market, as concerns about slowing global economic growth spurred a selloff in emerging markets.