A burst of policy reforms unleashed by the government since the middle of last month saw the index scaling 17-month high yesterday.
The early trade was marked by a 'flash crash' that sent the Nifty down by a massive 900 points and below 5,000- mark. The NSE had a turbulent morning as trading was halted for 15 minuets after the market filter got triggered due to 59 erroneous orders and the cash market was closed automatically.
Trading began on a positive note riding on the strong momentum created by the announcement of new reform measures after the trading hours yesterday, but soon gave away entire gains and fell back into negative zone as cautious investors booked some profits after the recent rally. The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved reforms in insurance and pension sectors.
Though the market recovered from the early crash, the damage was already done as investor confidence took a beating.
Financials, technology, pharma and infra stocks witnessed heavy sell-off, while, metal, auto, FMCG and oil & gas attracted good buying interest.
Global stocks rallied, following encouraging comments by European Central Bank officials and bolstered by hopes that Spain will soon request a bailout.
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The 50-share Nifty swung widely between a high of 5,815.35 and a low of 4,888.20 before concluding at 5,746.95 a fall of 40.65 points, or 0.70 per cent over its last close.
HDFC was the day's worst performer, plunging nearly 5 per cent after the global fund house Carlyle sold its entire stake in the company via multiple block deals.
RInfra, JP Associates, Wipro, Sun Pharma, IDFC, HCL Tech, Lupin, Infosys and Dr Reddy's were the other notable losers. Key gainers included Tata Motors, M&M, HUL, Hindalco, ONGC, L&T, Reliance, DLF, Coal India and Siemens.
The turnover in cash segment rose to Rs 19,934.44 crore from Rs 14,642.63 crore yesterday. Overall, 9,691.94 lakh shares changed hands in 66,79,119 trades. Total market capitalisation stood at Rs 65,03,733 crore.