The markets were routed by the weight of negative cues emanating from the global front. The Sensex ended below the 18k mark at 17,940, lower by 169 points and the Nifty was precariously poised above the 5400 mark at 5404, down 51 points. The midcap index ended at 6785, lower by 22 points and the smallcap index ended at 8109, down 54 points.
The BSE benchmark indices had a gap-down opening, continuing with the weakness of the previous session, in wake of the negative cues worldwide and tumbled more than 250 points mid-way through the session. While the Sensex did rebound by about 100 points towards the later part of trade, the partial retracement was still a case of too little too late in the day.
Fears of credit downgrade by rating agencies and weak consumer spending data had dented investor sentiment in the US markets overnight. And even the fact that the US had averted debt default after Senate approved 74 to 26 vote of the $2.1 trillion plan for reducing deficit and President Barack Obama signed the bill to raise the US government's debt ceiling failed to lift investor sentiment. The Dow Jones had declined 266 points and Nasdaq had slipped 75 points.
And Asian stocks fell for a second successive session due to renewed fears surrounding health of the global economy. The Hang Seng, Nikkei and Seoul indices lost in the region of 2% each, while Straits Times and Taiwan lost more than a percent each. There was no respite in selling pressure on the European front either; the FTSE, CAC and DAX had slipped about a percent each in mid-day trades.
L&T slid by 4.3% at Rs 1658 to top the loser's list on the BSE and Tata Motors shed 3% at Rs 927. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell 1.1% to Rs 825; the stock had touched a 52-week low of Rs 818 on August 2.
Among the result candidates, telecom heavyeight Bharti Airtel dropped 1.2% at Rs 426 after reporting 28% decline in Q1 net. Net profit for the quarter under review stands at Rs 1,215 crore as against Rs 1,682 crore in the year-ago period.
And DLF shed 2.1% to Rs 222 after reporting 13% year-on-year decline in its consolidated net profit for the first quarter ended June 2011 at Rs 358 crore on higher input cost and finance charges.
"The aggregate earnings for the June 2011 quarter have been broadly in line with estimates. Among the companies actively tracked by us, the profit after tax (PAT) has grown by 18% till date," said Rajat Rajgarhia, Head-Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
On the other hand, Reliance Infra strengthened by 2.7% at Rs 560, ITC gained 0.9% at Rs 206 and Tata Power added 0.7% at Rs 1286.
And aviation stocks advanced on declining crude oil price as easing crude oil prices may bring down the jet fuel prices, which accounts for more than 50% of airlines' operating costs. The brent crude is currently at $115 compared to $118 at the start of the week. The shares of Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines gained 1-2% each.
The market breadth was negative. Out of 2977 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1159 advancing stocks as against 1702 declines.
