The Sensex ended on a dismal note last week with a massive loss of over 9 per cent (1,603 points). The index, which started the week and the month with a negative gap of 351 points, could not recover and slipped below the 16,000-mark to 15,975.A lack of buying support on weak global cues was the major reason for the downmove. Financial and power stocks bore the brunt of the selling last week.Reliance Energy slumped 13 per cent, while ICICI Bank plunged 18 per cent and Bajaj Auto tumbled 17 per cent. DLF and Larsen & Toubro dropped over 15 per cent each.Other major losers were SBI, HDFC Bank, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Reliance and NTPC, each down by 8 to 13 per cent. Maruti, however, was the sole gainer (8 per cent) among index stocks.The index violated the broader range of 16,000-19,000 on the downside and also closed below it. The markets are now looking extremely weak and the index may test its recent low of 15,300 soon.A break of 15,200 would see the index sliding all the way to 12,100 in coming days with some support around the 13,900 level.In case of a rally, the index will have to cross many hurdles. The index is likely to face significant resistance around 17,300, 17,900 and 18,200 levels. In order to arrest the current downmove, the index will have to sustain above 16,100.The NSE Nifty tumbled to a low of 4,672, an intra-week loss of 551 points. The index finally ended with a huge loss of 8.7 per cent (452 points).The Nifty, too, violated its major support of 4,760 on the downside, but somehow managed to close above it. The index is now likely to retest its recent low of 4,450 with some support around the 4,500 level.A break of the recent low could see the index sliding to 4,100 or slipping to the 3,500 level.
