Markets end lower amid fears of Grexit from euro

The breakdown of talks between Greece and its international creditors raised fears of Greece's exit from the euro zone

Tulemino Antao Mumbai
Last Updated : Jun 29 2015 | 4:35 PM IST
Markets ended lower on Monday, amid weak global cues, after the failure of Greece and international creditors to reach an agreement over debt payments raised fears of Greece's exit from the euro zone.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 167 points at 27,645 and the Nifty ended down 63 points at 8,306.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down 1.6% each.

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Market breadth was weak with 1,852 losers and 694 gainers on the BSE.

"The initial knee-jerk reaction was on fears Greece's exit from the euro zone after talks with its creditors failed. However, the markets recovered later sensing the insulated nature of our markets. Other than slight impact on the currency, there would be no impact on stocks," said Prakash Diwan, Director, Altamount Capital Management.

Markets slumped in initial trades, with the Sensex plunging over 500 points in intra-day trade following the debt crisis in Europe. However, markets staged a marginal recovery in the later half of the trading session led by FMCG shares.

GREECE CRISIS

Banks in Greece and the stock exchange are shut on Monday after creditors refused to extend the country’s bailout and customers of several banks queued to withdraw cash. Moreover, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum on whether to accept creditors' demands, which could raise the risk that the country may exit out of the euro.

Further, reports suggest that the Greek government on Monday confirmed that banks will be close all week, after a decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) not to extend emergency funding.

GLOBAL MARKETS

The global markets also witnessed selling pressure in the midst of the on-going debt crisis in Greece. Shares in Asia ended lower, with a sell-off in Japan and China. Japan's Nikkei ended nearly 3% down. Shanghai Composite ended down 3.4% as investors remain wary despite a decision by the central bank to cut interest rates to record lows. Hang Seng ended down 2.7% and Straits Times ended 1.2% lower. The European markets also reacted to the developments in Greece, with Germany and France witnessing selling pressure. CAC-40 and  DAX were down over 3% while FTSE eased 1.5%.

KEY STOCKS AND SECTORS

All sectoral indices ended lower, with BSE Realty index emerging as the top loser down 2.2% followed by the IT and Metal indices among others.

Metal companies witnessed profit taking to end lower. Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, Vedanta and Jindal Steel ended down 0.8-4.6% down.

Banking shares ended mixed. SBI, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank ended down 0.7-2.1% each, while ICICI Bank ended flat and HDFC ended with marginal gains.

IT companies weakened after Tech Mahindra warned about its April-June quarter (Q1FY16) results. Tech Mahindra dropped 7% while TCS, Wipro and Infosys ended down 0.1-1.6% each.

Larsen & Toubro pared early losses to end marginally higher after the engineering and construction major today said it has received orders worth Rs 2,035 crore across various business verticals.

FMCG shares staged a recovery with ITC and HUL ending up 0.5-2.0% each.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries ended down 0.9% after the company announced that it was planning to shut down one crude distillation unit for routine maintenance and inspection activities in the first half of July for about 10 days.

Among other shares, JMT Auto surged 9.6%, extending its over-40% rally in the past two trading sessions on the BSE, after the stock turned ex-stock split on June 25.

Persistent Systems dipped 5.3%, extending its 15% decline in the past three trading sessions on the NSE, after the information technology consulting & software company said that its April-June quarter (Q1) revenues in dollar terms will be marginally lower on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

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First Published: Jun 29 2015 | 3:56 PM IST

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