Sensex sheds 458 points

Fall erodes m-cap by Rs 1,30,178 cr.

Even as the primary market showed signs of revival yesterday, the secondary market on Wednesday witnessed the highest fall in a week as investors are yet to recover from the shock of the recent crash and the impact of rising crude prices, which may trigger further price hike.

Real estate (down 3.59 per cent) and banking (down 3.23 per cent) led the fall. Public sector State Bank of India fell the most since February 11 and ICICI Bank declined for the first time in seven days on concern that lower lending rates may erode earnings, said dealers. Wednesday's market fall saw a market cap erosion of Rs 1,30,178 crore. 

SHELLSHOCKED Share Price in Rs
	20-Feb-08	% chg*
Sensex Losers
Tata Steel	772.60	-4.92
Maruti Suzuki	768.70	-4.76
BHEL	2124.20	-4.54
Tata Motors	705.70	-4.36
Sensex Gainers
TCS	884.00	1.05
Infosys Techn	1568.25	0.74
Bajaj Auto	2339.50	0.73
Satyam Computer	422.50	0.21
*Over previous close

"We recently moved to an underweight stance on India, notwithstanding our continuing enthusiasm for its longer-term investment prospects and our view that India's economy and corporate profits are likely to be among the most resilient to the risks posed by a slowdown in the US and other developed economies. The key reasons for changing our previously positive view are: (a) stretched valuations, (b) a less favourable macro and earnings outlook than the conditions that prompted our market upgrade last August, and (c) signs of excessive retail investor speculation," said Timothy Moe, analyst at Goldman Sachs (Asia), in a note to clients.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE's) widely-tracked Sensex closed at 17,617.60, down 458.06 points, or 2.39 per cent. The National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5,154.45, down 126.35 points, or 2.39 per cent.

The market also saw two new listings "� Bang Overseas and Shriram EPC. Both the companies ended lower than their issue price, reflecting bearish sentiment in the secondary market.

Bang Overseas opened at Rs 250 compared to its issue price of Rs 207 apiece. But the stock closed at 174.10 on NSE, down 15.89 per cent from the issue price.