 "Sensex hits 3-month low; slips below 24,000 in intra-day")
Indian shares, following negative global cues, hit a three month low to end the week on Friday ahead of the scheduled US Fed meeting mid next week. The benchmark key indices were down about a percentage point as Nifty 50 lost 73 points to close at 7,610.45 while BSE's 30 share index Sensex declined 208 points to 25,044.43.
In the beginning of the trade, Indian markets opened in the green but soon pared all gains and at one point of time were down nearly 1.4%. Sensex was barely 100 points away from its 52-week low as it slipped below the 24,000 mark while Nifty 50 touched a low of 7,575.30 - merely 35 points above its year low.
At the day's lowest point Sensex was down 386 points from its high and Nifty 50 was 128 points down. However, in the last one hour trade, some recovery set in which helped Sensex close the trade above the psychological mark of 25,000 and Nifty 50 re-conquered the 7,600 level.
The market breadth remained weak; 41 counters of Nifty 50 closed in the red while only 11 stocks in Sensex could gain in a falling market. In an action packed day, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) upping its ante on bad asset earlier in the day followed by restrictions on sale of diesel-based vehicles by the National Green Tribunal, counters of banks and automobiles bore the brunt. Indices like Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto were down 2.25% and 1.75%, respectively.
Vinod Nair, Head-Fundamental Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said, "The market tested the key support level of 7,600 as the pullback of global funds continued to create down side volatility in the bourses. The domestic investors were cautious ahead of CPI & IIP data which helps to gauge the economic stability. The confusion against the tax bill and the FOMC meet forced the retail participants to trim their exposure."
On the Sensex, shares of India's largest private lender ICICI Bank were the most hit as the counter lost 3.6% to trade last at Rs 249.35. Other heavyweight banks like Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) were down 1.3-2.3%. In the auto category, Mahindra&Mahindra (M&M) and Tata Motors were the most badly hit as they lost 2.2-3% of their values in Friday's trade.
Navneet Munot, chief investment officer (CIO) of SBI Mutual Fund, said, "We feel Fed rate hike is almost cooked in the price and, in fact, market volatility would subside once the event is behind us. Two other things to watch would how China manages to adjust to a lower growth rates, and the maturity of the key constituents in handling geo-political tensions."
Nifty Midcap indices were down 1.6%. After a solid two years run in the midcap and smallcap space, market participants are cautious.
According to Munot, "One must be cautious though as small & mid cap is not a seamless construct. The returns therefore can be dispersed and divergent depending on the business model, management, and industry specific disruptive developments," he added.
Stocks which bucked the trend on Friday include companies from the metal, pharma and IT space. Ahead of the government putting in anti-dumping duty of 5-57% to safeguard the interest of domestic steel makers, Tata Steel was up 3.41%, Hindalco gained 0.7%. Cipla, Lupin and Sun Pharma ended in the green with marginal gain.
