Indian equities markets slump with interim budget

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Indian equities closed in the red Monday as the interim budget presented by the government failed to shower any sops and boost investor confidence, leading to a key index ending 3.42 percent below its previous close. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at 9,305.45 points, down 3.42 percent or 329.29 points from its 9,634.74 points close Friday. The BSE midcap index was down 2.93 percent while the BSE smallcap ended 2.1 percent lower. At shutters, the broader-based S and P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 2,848.5 points, 3.39 percent lower than its last close. 'The message is loud and clear,' said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, chief executive of SMC Group, a brokerage firm based here. 'The government seems to be saying that it has done as much as it could and there is no headroom left and has pretty much left corporates to fend for themselves.' All the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE turned negative with those for realty and metal companies losing the most. he overall market sentiment was negative with 776 stocks advancing, 1,598 scrips declining and 108 remaining unchanged. The only gainer among the 30 scrips on the Sensex was ITC (up 0.75 percent at Rs.180.40). Among losers on the Sensex were Jaiprakash Associates (down 7.88 percent at Rs.69.55), Reliance Infra (down 6.35 percent at Rs.533.15), ICICI Bank (down 5.79 percent at Rs.409.20) and Reliance Communications (down 5.78 percent at Rs.171.15). In other Asian markets, a key Japanese index, the Nikkei of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed at 7,750.17 points, 0.38 percent lower than its previous close. The Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, ended 0.73 percent below its last close. In European markets, the FTSE index in Britain was ruling 0.63 lower than its previous close at 4,163.32 points.