Rally snapped on FII sales

STOCK REPORT

Key indices fell 3 per cent today, snapping a four-session winning streak, on profit booking across sectors by foreign institutional investors.

Dealers said Thai central bank's decision on Monday to impose curbs on foreign fund inflows gave institutions, which are trying to prop up their net asset values ahead of year-end, a "visible" reason to book profits.

Other key Asian markets ended down 1-2 per cent due to the sell-off.

"A lot of FIIs have turned jittery on emerging markets following Thailand's decision. The losses we saw today were largely a reaction to this," Janish Shah, head of research at Networth Stock Broking, said.

Cautious sentiment ahead of the expiry of derivatives contracts on December 28 also pushed indices down, brokers said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended at 13382.01, down 349.08 points or 2.5 per cent from Monday. Intraday, it moved between 13237.39 and 13748.62.

The National Stock Exchange Nifty ended at 3832.00, down 96.75 points or 2.5 per cent.

Intraday, it moved between 3783.45 and 3931.90.

Turnover on both the exchanges together was roughly Rs 13,100 crore, against Rs 12,000 crore on Monday.

The CNX Midcap ended down 1.4 per cent and S&P CNX 500 Index ended down 2.2 per cent.

On BSE, declines outnumbered advances 2:1.

The Bank of Thailand on Monday imposed fresh capital controls on foreign investments in the country, in a bid to curb the surge in Thai currency baht.

It has ordered banks to lock up 30 per cent of new foreign currency deposits above $20,000 for a year. The move is aimed at protecting Thai exports.

These deposits carry no interest and a third of the funds will be forfeited if they were withdrawn before one year.

The benchmark stock exchange of Thailand ended down 16 per cent.