Panic set in at the Bombay Stock Exchange with the benchmark Sensex crashing by over 514 points in pre-close trading on Monday on all-round selling by foreign funds in heavy-weighted commodity segment stocks.
The BSE 30-share index tanked by 514.35 points to quote at 11,770.76 points.
It however regained some lost ground and closed at 11,822.20 points, down 462.91 points. This could be the Sensex's third-largest fall ever.
The Nifty index on the wide-based National Stock Exchange fell by a whopping 167.20 points at 3482.85 points. It too regained some ground to finally close at 3491.15 points, losing a whopping 158.90 points. This is the biggest ever fall for the Nifty in its history.
The market suffered the most after commodity stocks in cement and metal segment experienced a free-fall along with other index-related scrips.
The major draggers at the indices were ACC, Grasim, Larsen and Toubro, Gujarat Ambuja Cement, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sterlite, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Reliance Energy, Reliance Petroleum and BHEL.
Sensex @ 1500 hrs
The Sensex recovered partially from the day's low of 11,811. The index is now down 342 points at 11,943.
The BSE Metal index has plunged 9.4% to 10,084.
Hindalco has nose-dived over 10% to Rs 218. Tata Steel has crashed 6.5% to Rs 602.
Grasim and Larsen & Toubro have slumped 4% each to Rs 2,160 and Rs 2,725, respectively.
Bajaj Auto has tumbled 3.5% to Rs 3,050. Maruti has slipped 2.8% to Rs 907.
Reliance, HDFC Bank, ONGC and HLL are down around 2.5% each at Rs 1,039, Rs 854, Rs 1,383 and Rs 267, respectively.
There is no gainer among the Sensex stocks.
Out of 2,599 stocks traded so far, 1,839 have declined, 722 have advanced and 38 are unchanged.
Sensex @ 1421 hrs:
Unabated selling in the market has dragged the index below the 12,000-mark. The index is now down 369 points at 11,916.
The NSE Nifty is down 119 points at 3531.
Hindalco has plunged over 8% to Rs 223. Tata Steel has dropped 3.8% to Rs 620.
Grasim has slumped 5.5% to Rs 2,126. Gujarat Ambuja has shed 3.3% to Rs 103.
Larsen & Toubro has tumbled 4.3% to Rs 2,715.
Reliance, ITC and HLL have declined 3% each to Rs 1,033, Rs 195 and Rs 266, respectively.
ONGC and Bharti Airtel have slipped 2.8% each to Rs 1,378 and Rs 404, respectively.
Dr.Reddy's is the sole gainer among the Sensex stocks.
The market breadth is fairly negative. Out of 2,565 stocks traded so far, 1,551 have declined, 962 have advanced and 52 are unchanged.
Sensex @ 1331 hrs:
The Sensex tumbled to a low of 12,097, and is now down 172 points at 12,113.
Hindalco has slumped 6.6% to Rs 227, and Tata Steel has dropped 3.6% to Rs 621. Grasim has shed over 3% to Rs 2,180.
Larsen & Toubro has plunged 2.7% to Rs 2,760. Bharti Airtel and Ranbaxy have slipped 2% each to Rs 407 and Rs 483, respectively.
Reliance (Rs 1,048), ICICI Bank (Rs 626) and Satyam (Rs 754) are down over 1.5% each.
Dr.Reddy's and Tata Motors are the only gainers among the Sensex stocks.
The market breadth has turned negative. Out of 2,521 stocks traded so far, 1,260 have declined, 1,209 have advanced and 52 are unchanged.
Sensex @ 1223 hrs:
The Sensex is now down 81 points at 12,204.
Hindalco has plunged 3.6% to Rs 234. Tata Steel has dropped nealry 2% to Rs 632. Grasim is down over 2.3% at Rs 2,200.
HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel are down 1.7% each at Rs 860 and Rs 409, respectively.
Reliance, HLL and Larsen & Toubro have slipped over 1% each to Rs 1,054, Rs 271 and Rs 2,807, respectively.
Gujarat Ambuja has gained 1.5% at Rs 108, and ACC is up nearly 1% at Rs 905.
HDFC has advanced 1.5% to Rs 1,403. Tata Motors has rallied over 1% to Rs 974.
Out of 2,404 stocks traded so far, 1,484 have moved up, 867 have declined and the rest are unchanged.
Sensex @ 1139 hrs:
The Sensex opened marginally lower (12 points) at 12,273. The index slipped to a low of 12,139 - down 146 points from the previous close.
The index is now down 105 points at 12,180.
HDFC Bank has dropped 2.3% to Rs 855. HDFC has shed 1.5% to Rs 1,363, and ICICI Bank is down 1% at Rs 630.
Hindalco has shed 2.2% to Rs 237. Grasim has slipped 2% to Rs 2,205.
While ONGC has declined 1.7% to Rs 1,393, Reliance is down 1% at Rs 1,056.
Bharti Tele is down 1.3% at Rs 410. Infosys and Wipro have slipped over 1% each to Rs 3,210 and Rs 538, respectively.
Tata Motors and Dr.Reddy's have rallied over 1% each to Rs 975 and Rs 1,663, respectively. Gujarat Ambuja has added 1% to Rs 107.
The market breadth is positive. Out of 2,195 stocks traded so far, 1,313 have advanced, 832 have declined and 50 are unchanged.
Sensex @ 1056 hrs:
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Index dropped by over 134 points in early trading on Monday as funds continued to offload part of their holdings in blue chip shares.
The Sensex, which had lost 150 points in previous trading, fell further by 134.11 points and was at 12,151 points in the first five minutes of trading.
Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index fell by 41.05 points to 3608.15 points.
Major losers were ONGC, Infosys Tech, Grasim, HDFC, BHEL, HDC Larsen and Toubro, Reliance Ind, TCS and ICICI Bank.
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