Markets plunge deeper into red; Nifty fell below 6,000 level

Following global peers, Indian equity markets extended early losses and continued their sell-off in the late morning session on Thursday. The Sensex plunged 324.35 points, while Nifty fell below 6,000 mark. In currency market, rupee fell below the psychological level of 56 against, its lowest level in over 8-1/2 months, as dollar rallied against other currencies on worries about a potentially early end to US monetary stimulus. On the sectoral front, all were trading in red. Meanwhile, engineering major Larsen & Toubro extended fall due to lower than expected fourth quarter earnings, while state-owned BHEL shares crashed 4.33% ahead of quarterly earnings.

On the global front, Asian stock markets slid after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks sparked worries of a reduction in US monetary stimulus and after data showed China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May. Japan's stock market tumbled by 7%, as surging Japanese bond yields and a strengthening yen contributed to the moves. Back home, the market breadth was favoring negative trend; there were 1,538 shares on the losing side against 389 shares on the gaining side, while 99 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,737.89, down by 324.35 points or 1.62% after trading in a range of 20,027.56 and 19,702.43. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 2.18% and Small cap index was down by 2.09%.

There was no gainer in sectoral indices on the BSE, while Realty down by 6.39%, Power down by 3.49%, Capital Goods down by 3.42%, Consumer Durables down by 2.81% and Bankex down by 2.49% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 0.46%, Dr Reddy’s up by 0.30%, ONGC up by 0.24%, Tata Steel up by 0.13% and Sun Pharma up by 0.01%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki was down by 4.94%, BHEL was down by 4.33%, Bharti Airtel was down by 3.74%, SBI was down by 3.57% and  ICICI Bank was down by 3.56% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, expressing confidence that Indian economy will recover soon, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that economic situation is turning around and the GDP growth is likely to exceed 6 percent in FY14. Speaking on the fourth anniversary celebrations of UPA-II government, Singh said that the country's macroeconomic indicators are improving with inflation regularly coming down and fiscal deficit under control. Talking about the current account deficit which is high, he said that it will come down gradually.

By adding further, Prime Minister said that lowest growth in the FY13 was attributed to the global economic crises. However, the FY14 would be better than previous financial year and growth could exceed over 6 percent and will set the stage for returning to 8 percent growth in the current Five Year Plan period ending March 31, 2017, he added.

Referring to the agricultural growth, Manmohan Singh said that agricultural growth was critical for rural prosperity and the government was targeting 4 percent growth in the sector and is attempting to increase foodgrain production as well as diversifying agriculture. Further he said that to boost the economy’s growth, the Government has also introduced the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act to replace the old and highly unfair colonial legislation. The new Act will be much fairer to those whose land is acquired.          

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,986.05 down by 108.45 points or 1.78% after trading in a range of 6,081.45 and 5,973.80. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Dr Reddy up by 0.41%, Ultra Cement up by 0.34%, ONGC up by 0.32%, Sun Pharmaceuticals up by 0.19% and Tata Steel up by 0.16%.

On the flip side, Ranbaxy down by 8.72%, JP Associate down by 8.45%, DLF down by 7.48%, Reliance Infra down by 6.22% and Maruti Suzuki down by 4.97%, were the major losers on the index.

All Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.48%, Hang Seng tumbled 2.34%, Jakarta Composite dropped 0.93%, KLSE Composite dipped 0.24%, Nikkei 225 crumbled 7.32%, Straits Times contracted 1.15%, KOSPI Composite declined 1.24% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 1.92.%